Remnant of Shadows
by KeySlinger09
Summary: Proving themselves to be capable warriors, Ruby Rose, a skilled scythe user, and Simon, a master of the whip with dark secrets, are given the opportunity to join 'Beacon Academy', a school to train students to become hunters. However, as times grow darker, they may call for a dark hero to keep their home save.
1. Training session

**[Hi everyone. Hope your all feeling well today. In case you ask, his is an idea that I've been pondering on for a while. Eventually, I couldn't wait any longer, so I decided to give it a shot. If anyone's interested, give it a shot. Hope you like it.]**

The sun was setting as a couple dressed in cloaks were making their way back to their home town. Upon seeing this, they decided that it would be more beneficial for them to move more quickly, so as to not have to endure the dangers that the night would bring.

The couple came to a halt when they saw a light in the distance. One of the figures lowered their hood, revealing the face of a man in his early twenties. He had grey, long hair that was tied into a pony tail, giving the top of his head a shorter, spikier appearance. He also had pale skin, blue eyes and, surprisingly, the ears of a canine, more specifically, a wolf. Being a man who was part human and part animal, or 'Faunus', as they were known to the world, he was able to sense something irregular up ahead with his heightened senses.

"What is the matter?" came the voice of the other cloaked walker.

The second lowered their hood and revealed that it was a woman around the same age of the Faunus man, having long, crimson hair, green eyes and lightly tanned skin. Compared to her companion, who was alert and awake, she looked like she was ready to drop, with her shaky stance and dark shades under her eyes.

The Faunus narrowed his eyes towards his left, fixating on a specific dark area. He was quiet for a moment before his eyes picked up a faint red light in the darkness. At his he took an involuntary step back.

The woman looked worried. "Shaun, what's wrong?" she asked worryingly.

The Faunus, now known as Shaun, clenched his hands into fists and lowered himself onto the ground, as if ready to pounce.

"We've got Grimm." He said quietly.

At this, the eyes darted out of the darkness, revealing the large body of a wolf on its hind legs, standing like a human, as well as baring its claws on its large arms. The head of the creature was also that of a wolf, covered with a mask made of bone. No sooner had it appeared, eight more like it appeared.

The Grimm, creatures of darkness that sought to eliminate the light, circled around the couple. One of the Beowulf-type Grimm licked its lips, apparently looking forward to a late snack.

Shaun raised one of his hands and grasped one of the hands of the girl. He looked up to her with a face that was a mixture of worry and concern.

"Alice, listen to me. When I tell you to, run back towards the town. Don't turn back, just run. The Hunters back in Patch will protect you." Shaun said to her.

At this, the girl now known as Alice looked back at her companion with shock, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Shaun… Shaun, what would you SAY such a thing!? I can't leave you, I WON'T leave you!" she said to him.

One of the Grimm roared and lunged at the couple. Shaun's natural instincts took over in that second, releasing his hold on his beloved and, while quickly growing claws in place of his fingernails, slashed the Grimm across its neck, decapitating it in an instant. He then quickly turned back to Alice.

"There's more of them in the bushes, I can sense it. I can't risk you getting hurt, for your sake and-"

Before he could finish, two more Grimm launched themselves directly at Alice, who was oblivious of the danger due to her concern for Shaun, from behind. The latter, however, noticed the danger and dashed behind her and used his claws to kill them with as much ferocity as he used for his last opponent. Alice gasped as she heard the Grimm roar in pain. Shaun looked back at her.

"Please don't argue. I wouldn't be telling you to do this if it wasn't necessary. Please don't argue with me, just-" he was briefly interrupted when he saw another Grimm rocketing towards him, but Shaun delivered the same fate upon it as he did the others. "Just go, I'll catch up to you soon."

He turned back to her, seeing a worried and uncertain face. He gave her a face full of certainty. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." He said.

This did nothing to relieve her of her worry, but she didn't wish to argue with him. So, reluctantly, she nodded at him to show that she understood. Readying himself, Shaun eyed the area around him, keeping an eye on what the Grimm might do next.

A split second later, All the Grimm shot towards them. When they were close enough, Shaun shot out a leg and Spun it around, avoiding Alice, and struck all the Grimm at once. He brought his foot down and used it to launch off the ground and fly towards an air-borne Grimm. Shaun continued to strike the Grimm with a number of punches and kicks, ensuring it would never get back up again. When he was satisfied that the Grimm wouldn't be a threat any longer, he used it at a launching pad to sail through the air to another Grimm, where he mercilessly struck the Grimm with full force.

Shaun looked back at Alice. "GO! NOW!" he roared before going back to the Grimm.

Alice nodded back towards him and then ran towards the town. She felt something inside her break, having to leave him behind. However, she didn't want to go against his wishes. She ran with great speed, which was important considering that she needed to make it to the town as quickly as possible.

After five minutes of sprinting, however, she ran out of breath. She stopped running and leaned against a nearby tree. She then turned and pressed her back against it before slowly making her way to the ground. She continued to breathe in and out slowly, trying to calm herself down. At the moment, the worst thing she could do was give into panic.

"Please… please be okay." Alice said to herself.

After taking another minute, she got back onto her feet and started to run again. She had to keep telling herself to keep moving forward and not to go back.

However, she came to an instant stop when she heard a loud roar pierce the air. She felt every inch of her go cold, recognising this specific roar. She slowly turned around and saw another pair of eyes hiding in the bushes. In that moment, the fight or flight instinct took action, her choice being flight. She ran away, hoping to escape the beast. However, it proved to be more agile. It got ahead of her and stopped in her path.

Alice skidded to a stop, getting a full few of the creature in front of her. It was another Grimm, only this one was the shape of a bear, but still wore the bone ask. This Grimm was an Ursa, much stronger than the Beowolf. Alice knew that she would have difficulty here.

The creature roared again, followed by it barreling towards her. Alice saw the creature coming and dodged to the side, causing the Ursa to run head-first into a tree. It did nothing to damage the Ursa, but it did irritate it. It recomposed itself and continued to try and kill its target. However, Alice proved to be quite nimble. Every time the Ursa tried to swipe at her, she managed to dodge it. She was soon pressed up against a tree, where the Ursa took the opportunity to charge at her again. However, when it was close enough, Alice jumped into the air and landed on the monster's back as it crashed into the tree. This time, however, the tree was damaged to the point where it started to tilt down. Alice saw this and dashed off its back, where she allowed the tree to do the work for Ursa was crushed in seconds. Alice watched as the carcass began to fade away into ashes. When it had fully faded, she turned around and was about to continue on her way .

However, she was interrupted when another beowolf appeared in front of her and slashed her in the stomach. Alice, whose face was of disbelief and confusion, was unable to register the pain of her stomach being slashed open. The force of the attack had still sent her flying in the air and was knocked into a nearby tree. She fell to the ground, blood slowly flowing from her abdomen. She looked at the wound, soon becoming hysterical with fear.

But not for her own safety.

"No… no… please, no, don't let this be… real." She managed to say. The wound was leaving her weaker by the second, making her more vulnerable to the monster before her. Her peripheral vision picked up more glowing orbs in the darkness of the forest.

No sooner had they appeared did the first immediately pounce towards the dying woman. With her remaining strength, all she managed to accomplish was letting out a scream of terror as her end came towards her.

…..

Alice shot out from her bed. She was panting from both fear and lack of breath; she tried her best to catch her breath and recover from the shock. When she calmed down, she flopped back onto the bed, placing both her hands over her face as the images in the dream were still fresh in her mind.

"That night again. It's never anything else but that night." She said to herself quietly.

She was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard a light knocking on the door. She shook her head for a moment before responding.

"Come in." she said.

The door slowly opened, revealing the person behind it. Standing outside Alice's bedroom was a boy around seventeen years of age. He had brown, messy hair that was black at the tips, emerald, green eyes and a slightly angular face. He wore a blue t-shirt that had a white cross in the centre, closer too the neckline, having a grey cotton jacket over it. He also wore a pair of denim jeans that were slightly baggy, giving him more freedom to move, which were held up with a black belt with a symbol shaped like a dragon on the buckle. At the moment, he was wearing a pair of baby-blue slippers. He was holding a tray that had a plate of bacon and eggs, toast and pancakes.

"Hey mom." The boy said.

Alice formed a smile on her face. "Morning Simon. How are you this morning?"

"Ecstatic for a new day, but I feel I should be asking you that." He said. He went over to the bed and placed the tray on her nightstand. "I could hear you screaming your head off from downstairs." He said.

Alice's eyes soon became a bit gloomy. In truth, it was often for her to have nightmares. Eventually, after her son had been constantly checking on her after hearing screaming her heart out, she eventually told him to give it up, since it would only be a waste of time for him. Albeit more concerned for her after hearing that, he obeyed her.

"I'm so sorry." Alice said.

Simon shook his head at her. "Don't ever apologize for that. Besides, I was already on my way to give you this when I heard you wake up." He simply said.

Alice nodded at him before turning her attention towards the breakfast. "That looks lovely. Were you up long making that?"

"I'd say around half an hour. The pancakes were the easiest to make." Simon replied. He held out his hand for a moment. When he clicked his fingers, a knife and fork suddenly appeared in his hand. "Ta-daah!" he said. He placed the utensils on the tray. He was about to give her the tray when she shook her head and said she could get it. She took the tray and started with the bacon and eggs.

"These… these are amazing." She said. She looked back at Simon. "You've gotten a lot better, haven't you?"

Simon shrugged his shoulders. "Well… after the incident with the barbecue at Taiyang's house, I thought it best to learn how to cook without causing mass food poisoning." She said.

Alice let out a small laugh. When Simon was younger, Taiyang offered to teach him how to cook on the barbecue. Somehow, Simon had managed to leave all the guests with sore stomachs from food that _seemed_ cooked at the outside, but were actually still too raw to eat. He managed to make the front page of the local paper as a result. "Well, it's certainly better than that."

"If ANYTHING is better than that, I take it as a personal victory." He said.

Alice continued to eat as she spoke. "Speaking of Taiyang, are you meeting up with Yang and Ruby today?"

"Yep. Yang said that she had something interesting planned for today, so I might as well see what it's about. Speaking of which…" he pulled out a paper towel and another fork and took one of the pancakes. "Chef's treat before going out. See you later." He finished before making his way out.

Alice waited for a moment before going towards a window in her room, watching Simon race towards his friends' house. She let out a small sigh. Seeing her son everyday was a gift to her. Before he was born, he had been seriously injured after her stomach was sliced open by a Beowolf Grimm, striking him as well.

She wasn't sure how he was able to recover, but after she had fallen unconscious and awoken, she found herself in a cottage, with her stomach fully intact like it was never cut, and the baby still in full health. She didn't know how it was possible, but she and the child were alive and well. She later learned that she was discovered by two Hunters, defenders of humanity and those who fought Grimm. The hunters were Qrow Branwen, a black-haired sword/scythe wielder who, despite his alcoholism, was a man who showed great concern for those who are in need, and Taiyang Xiao Long, a blond haired man who was quite laid-back and whose kindness was only matched by his incredible skill in hand-to-hand combat. Since they saved her, they all had been incredibly close.

Alice was glad to see that her own son was able to get on well with Taiyang's children. She hoped that their friendship would last a life-time.

"Have a nice day." She said to herself, hoping that Simon would hear her words.

….

In the Xiao Long household, two girls were getting ready to go out. One of them was sitting on a sofa watching the news. She was around seventeen years old, having long, blond hair, pale skin and amethyst eyes. She was wearing a biker jacket, a yellow t-shirt that had a flame symbol on it, gloves, short-skirt and combat boots. She saw reports of many stores being robbed in the city of Vale.

"YAAANG!" came a voice of another girl.

The girl, now Yang, turned around to wear she heard the noise. The space was empty for a moment, until a blur of red appeared and went all around the room, leaving behind a trail of rose petals which faded away as soon as they appeared. When the blur came a halt, it unfolded, revealing it to be a red cape with a hood attached. Beneath the fabric was a girl, seemingly around fifteen years of age. She short, black hair that was cropped short and had a hint of red at the tips, silver eyes and pale skin. She wore a black blouse that had thick sleeves, black combat skirt that was red at the edges, black stockings and combat boots. She wore a belt as well that had a rose emblem that was against her right side, tilted at an angle.

"C'MON YANG! TELL ME WHAT WE'RE DOING TODAY!" the girl said, clearly excited for something.

Yang rolled her eyes. "I told you, Ruby, you'll know what it is when Simon gets here." she said.

The moment she finished speaking, there was a knock on the door. Ruby was the first to reach the door, opening it to see Simon standing there with his hands behind his head.

"Hi girls." He said.

"Hi Simon." The girls said simultaneously. Ruby motioned for him to come in, to which he obeyed willingly. Yang offered him something to drink before they headed out.

"Perhaps I should hear what you have _planned_ before I make a decision." Simon answered, thinking that he may need a strong coffee if Yang had something stupid planned… again.

Ruby took a seat on the couch and looked pleadingly into Yang's eyes, showing she wished to know what was going on. Yang put on a mischievous smirk before explaining what was going on.

"We… are going to have a sparring session before I head over to 'Beacon'." She said.

Ruby grinned widely. "I boy, I can't wait, I be-"

"And Ruby, you have to leave your scythe behind." Yang finished.

As soon as she said that, Ruby's cherful and upbeat expression shattered, and was quickly replaced with a look horror. "WHAT!" Ruby screamed.

Simon raised an eyebrow. "How come?" he asked, never before considering the _idea_ of Ruby not carrying her Crescent Rose.

"Today, I want to focus on helping Ruby get better with hand to hand combat." Yang answered.

"Oooooh. Okay." Simon said, now having fully understood the situation.

"YOU'RE AGREEING WITH HER!" Ruby screamed.

Simon took a moment to rub the ear Ruby screamed into before explaining himself. "To be fair, Ruby, there might be times you won't have the Crescent Rose on you and you need to fight. And, like it or not, your terrible at hand-to-hand."

Ruby lowered her head and began whimpering like a puppy.

So… what do you need me for?" Simon asked.

Yang smiled back at him. "One, I want to see you use that toy you made in action. You spent a while making it, why not test it out?""

"Ah, c'mon now, you're asking me to bring my weapon and asking Ruby to leave hers behind." he said, realizing the unfairness of the situation. "How about we let Ruby bring her scythe and we let her use it in case of an emergency?"

Ruby looked at Yang with puppy dog eyes, hoping she would listen to Simon's request. However, Yang shook her head. "Nope."

Ruby whimpered again and Simon frowned towards the ground. "You're real stubborn, aren't you?" he asked. Yang nodded in agreement. Simon then realized something. "You said 'one'. Is there another reason?"

"One other." Yang said, holding up an index finger to illustrate her point. "Knowing how good you are with medical stuff, we may need your help in case there's an accident… or if we have too much fun."

Ruby looked a lot more worried after hearing that. Seeing her discomfort, Simon placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, Ruby. It's just a sparring match. How bad can it be?"

…

Ruby was knocked onto the ground for the fourth time as see lost, yet another, round in her fight against Yang. The poor girl was not happy.

"Oooow. Ugh." She managed to say. She looked to the side and saw Simon holding up large cards. The red card had the number '0' on it, while the yellow card had '4' on it.

"Come on." Yang said. "You totally could've dodged that." She went over to her sister and helped her up. Yang had decided to take the training session to a nearby clearing, where there would be plenty of space. Simon had remembered to bring an abundance of medical supplies, just in case.

"Yang, I told you, I'm just not cut out for hand to hand." Ruby said. "Why can't I just use my beautiful Crescent Rose?" the image of the weapon appearing in her head. A massive scythe with a red frame and a gun attachment to the top of the weapon, making it useable as a firearm. The scythe can be transformed into a hand-held cannon for ranged attacks as well, if needed.

"That's exactly why I didn't let you bring it." Yang said, which annoyed Ruby. Yang continued to speak. "Like I said, I'm going to be leaving for Beacon soon. I want to make sure that my little sis can hold her own while I'm gone."

"To be fair, Ruby, you weren't pretty good at fighting at all until Qrow showed you how to use a scythe, remember? How is this any different?" Simon said, trying to put some perspective into it.

Ruby tried to come up with an argument against Simon's point, only to come up with nothing. The girl sighed. "Fine." She said reluctantly.

At that moment, Yang lunged at her. Ruby managed to narrowly dodge the number of attacks aimed at her, until she found an opening. She launched her own fist at Yang, only for the elder sister to dodge it easily. Yang smiled and spun around, tripping Ruby over and was about to land a hit on her. However, in a brief moment of panic, Ruby sped away, becoming the red blur and speeding away to a safe area.

Yang Laughed and Simon shook his head. "You know you're supposed to _teach_ her, right? Not scare the skin off of her."

Yang ran her hands through her hair and casually smiled back at Simon. "What better way for her to learn?" she said, causing Simon to sigh in defeat as he knew he wouldn't get anywhere with her. She laughed and turned towards where Ruby sped off to.

"Nice one sis. You're not always going to be able to run away from your problems, though." Yang said. "Sometimes you have to stand your ground and fight, no matter what."

Yang started to stretch her muscles, getting ready for another round. Simon was personally amazed that at the level of energy she had when it came to fighting. And unfortunately for Ruby, she was burning a lot.

"Alright. Get back out here. We're going to see how well Simon can fight." The blond brawler said.

"WHAT!" Simon roared, clearly nod happy with the idea of fighting her after seeing how tough she was with Ruby.

However, she was only met with the sound of silence from Ruby. Then, there was the sound of large stomps going through the forest, breaking twigs and foliage behind the trees and bushes. Yang narrowed her eyes as she looked to see where Ruby was.

"Ruby?" she called out. Simon narrowed his eyes as he thought he saw something in the darkness. Both he and Yang soon saw the outline of a beast wearing glowing red marks across its body and menacing red eyes.

"RUBY!" They both cried in panic, realizing what the creature was. It emerged from the bushes, revealing it to be an Ursa Grimm, only this one was much bigger than the rest of them. This was the Ursa Major, which were both older and stronger, and would need careful handling when trying to take it down. The creature roared into the open air, making itself well known.

Simon ran up to Yang, readying himself for a fight against the beast. He turned his eyes towards Yang. "That match'll have to wait." He said.

Yang ignored him, instead readying her weapon. The yellow bracelets she was wearing increased in size, turning into her favourite Shotgun gauntlets that coated her forearms, the 'Ember Cecilia'. She ran towards the beast, ready to strike it down, with the Grimm responding in kind.

Simon wanted to go help, but he thought it best to see if Ruby was okay. He knew full well that Yang could take care of herself. He ran to where he saw the beast emerge, looking around frantically for Ruby. His peripheral vision then caught a familiar shade of red. He looked directly at it and saw Ruby lying face down on the ground. She ran towards her, sliding onto his knees as he was beside her and started to shake her.

"Ruby. RUBY! C'mon, wake up." He said.

As he continued to try and wake her, he turned back towards Yang. The brawler was repeatedly striking it with her fists, doing nothing to damage it. The Grimm swiped her away, to which she recovered quickly. She pulled back her arms and used the shotgun feature to fire shots at the Ursa major, striking it in the back. Simon thought it strange that these shot were ore like rockets than shot gun blasts, but he chose to ignore it for now.

The creature charged at her again. Yang continued to attack the Grimm with a mixture of punches and shots from her gauntlets. Every time the Grimm swiped its claws at her, Yang used the recoil blast from the gauntlets to help give her a speed boost to evade the attacks, which also helped to quickly get close to the creature if she was too far away to punch it. However, the beast saw an opening and struck Yang with great force, rocketing her into the forest, destroying a number of trees in the process.

Simon's eyes widened at the scene. As he did, Ruby slowly regained consciousness. She pushed herself up, trying to remember what had happened. All she remembered was getting hit from behind as she was speeding away from Yang. Simon saw her getting up and took on of her arms, placing it over his shoulder and pulled her up.

"Si… Simon?" Ruby said.

Simon walked back towards the clearing. There, he saw the Ursa standing idly by and Yang absent from the field. Ruby panicked when she saw it, realizing what was going on.

"YANG!" she cried.

The Ursa heard Ruby. It turned towards the two and soon rushed towards them. Ruby froze, afraid that it would soon be over. Simon, however, wore a face of scolding anger, Time seemed to slow down for both of them, Simon instinctively reaching for something inside his jacket. However, this was interrupted when a figure appeared in between them. The Ursa's jaws opened, clamping down and trapping the figure in its mouth.

Simon and Ruby looked up in horror and saw that it was Yang that was trapped in the creature's jaws, her aura, the physical manifestation of her soul that acted as a natural shield, being the only thing keeping her from being minced in the creature's mouth. The Ursa shook her briefly before it threw her away.

"NO!" Simon yelled.

"YANG!" Ruby screamed.

However, Yang wasn't finished yet. One common thing about hunter, when they unlock their auras, they can unlock their own unique abilty, or 'semblance'. When Yang activated hers, her eyes turned red. When she was close to a tree, she flipped and landed on the side of the tree with her feet, using her gauntlets to shoot herself towards the Grimm. The monster hurled its own paw at Yang. When their limbs collided, it created a powerful shockwave, one with twice as much the total damage the Ursa Major had dealt her, that separated Ruby and Simon and sent them flying into the air. Ruby flipped around and landed on her knees, while Simon was thrusted higher into the air, and clung on to a tree branch and spun around it, helping to flip himself on top of it.

A second later, the Grimm's arm snapped, causing the creature to roar again, only this time in pain. Yang fired a shot again from her gauntlet again, finishing off the Grimm. The remaining forward momentum sent Yang flying into a nearby tree, while the Grimm faded away into nothing. Yang was left slumped up against the tree.

"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed. She ran towards Yang. Simon jumped down from the tree and sprinted towards her.

Ruby looked quite upset. "Yang, are you okay? I didn't know how to help without my scythe. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Yang simply said. She looked up to Ruby with a comforting smile. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I've always got your back, sis."

Yang turned towards Simon. "Thanks for helping Ruby. I really owe you one."

"Owe you what? We're friends, right?" Simon said with a friendly smile.

At that moment, they all smiled. Ruby tried her best to help Yang back onto her feet. Simon asked if she needed help, but she said she was okay. They soon started to make their way over back to their village, until they heard the sound growling in the bushes again. They all turned towards the sound of the noise.

"Uh oh." Ruby said.

"This isn't good." Yang stated.

"Oh, butterscotch." Simon said.

At that moment, Yang and Ruby looked at Simon with a curious expression. "Butterscotch?" Ruby asked, voicing their thoughts.

"It's better than saying f-"

Before Simon could finish what he was about to say, the source of the sound jumped out of the bushes in the form of beowolves. Thankfully, these creatures were much weaker than the Ursa major, but the teenagers were still wary. Ruby couldn't fight without her scythe and Yang was worn out from her battle with the Ursa. Simon, however, wore a smirk on his face that showed that he had something up his sleeve.

"Leave them to me." Simon said.

Ruby looked to her friend with concern. "Are you sure?"

As soon as she asked, Simon's body began to glow with a sickly red and black energy as he reached into his jacket. He pulled out a whip with a black and silver handle, the whip part being made of a black, scaly material with lining of silver material, the tip of the whip shaped like claws. He then threw off his jacket and readied himself

"I'm sure, Ruby." He turned his head towards Ruby for a brief moment. "Have you ever seen anyone use a whip before?"

….

After her breakfast, Alice sat in the front porch of her house, reading an old novel that she never got around to before. After a while, she was soon visited by Taiyang. Alice was happy to see him, as he always seemed to brighten the mood. The hunter (now teacher at the fighting academy for those who wished to own their fighting skills to become hunters known as 'Signal') had short blond hair, blue eyes, a brown jacket with short sleeves and waist, a light brown shirt underneath, a pauldron on his right shoulder, a glove on his right hand, cargo shorts and sandals.

"Hey, Alice. What's up?" he asked.

"Hi Tai. Just enjoying an old novel I found. How are you today?" Alice asked.

Taiyang shrugged his shoulders. "Y'know, just chillin'. I thought I'd see how you are." He said.

Alice smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you. Would you like something to eat?"

Taiyang was quiet for a moment as he considered the offer. "Well… it would be rude to refuse." He said, silently hoping to have a taste of her cooking. She was one of the best chefs in the village, and that was quite a feat.

Alice giggled slightly. "Great, let me-"

Before she could finish, they felt a strong gust of wind. Taiyang and Alice both felt a cold shiver go up their spines when they felt the wind. Taiyang frowned towards the direction where the wind came from.

"Something's not right." Taiyang said seriously.

…..

A beowolf was sent flying back, landing on its side and was left to fade away. The remaining beowolves looked at their opponent, some backing away with uncertainty. Simon stood strong, cracking his whip and then pulled it back, coiling it in one motion. Taking a step back, he then rushed forwards, spinning around and releasing the surprisingly long whip. As he spun, he struck a great number of Grimm with the tip of the whip. When one appeared behind him, Simon, twirled and began whacking it with great speed and precision, using the leather to beat it while using the tip cut and wound it in multiple areas. It didn't take long for the Grimm to fall after that.

As more Grimm began to rain around him, Simon spun the whip around in a variety of ways, striking the Grimm that surrounded him with great force. At one point, one of the beowolf was close enough to land a hit on him, but Simon focused as much of his Aura into his empty hand blocked the attack with it. He had timed the block right, as the Grimm was staggered and Simon was able to counter attack with a few direct whip strikes, which were more powerful than his wide spread whip attacks that helped deal with more than one enemy surrounding him.

Ruby and Yang watched their companion with awe. They were surprised to see the color of his aura, as they never saw him in a fight before. It had been one of the main reasons why Yang was interested to see how Simon would fair in a fight. However, when they saw him battling the Grimm with the whip, and how well he was doing it... they were unable to take their eyes off of him as he cut them down with brutal precision.

"Wow…" Ruby managed to say.

"Show off." Yang stated, but was obviously impressed by his skill.

With only three beowolves remaining, Simon decided to finish them off with a little more style. He lowered himself to the ground and spun around, catching the enemies from underneath. He then used as much force as he could and jumped high into the air, using the force of the attack to bring them with him. When all were airborne, Simon turned upside down and spun the weapon around like a propeller, the force strong enough to slice the Grimm into pieces. When Simon was satisfied with his work, he stopped spinning, turned the right-way-up and landed on the ground with a roll, fading pieces of Grimm slowly floating down after him.

After he straightened himself, he looked towards Yang and Ruby, who were still awe-struck by what they saw. Simon coiled the whip back in one motion, placing it on his belt and then rubbing the back of his head with a nervous look.

"I… uh…" Simon wasn't really sure about what to say. He never really displayed his combat prowess to anyone before. He had thought about going to Signal to learn how to fight, but he had to stay home and look after his mum. So, he decided to train himself on how to fight, learning how to fight with a sword, his fists and, his personal favorite, the whip. Combined with his relatively quiet nature, it made him an incredibly dangerous warrior. Unsuspecting, but deadly.

Ruby was next to speak. "That… was… AMAZING!" Ruby exclaimed.

Simon raised his eyebrows with surprise, having not expected that kind of reaction. His aura was of an unusual color, one that had scared off Grimm he fought in the past so easily. He was afraid that revealing his ability and power would drive people away.

"You got some skill, dude. I can't believe you've been holding out on us." Yang said.

Simon managed a smile and shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say, I'm full of surprises." He sid.

Ruby looked around and found Simons jacket. She got it and rushed over to Simon, handing it back to him.

"Thanks Ruby." Simon said. As he put the jacket back on, all three teens suddenly felt shivers down their spines. They all turned their heads to where the source, only to see a confused looking Taiyang and a shocked looking Alice standing right before them.

"Uh oh" Ruby said worryingly.

 **[And that's it. I decided to use Yang's character short as the start of the story, given that I thought her fight against the Grimm was cool, as well as it being a different spin than just starting from the robbery at the dust store. I tried to introduce the OC character as best I could, hope no one is disappointed. In case you ask, he isn't the same Simon from any of the castlevania games. I chose the name 'Simon' because, partly, I kind of liked his portrayal in Castlevania Lords of shadow Mirror of fate, making him a personal favorite, but mainly because I like the name. Well, that all from me, but be honest with me in how this story was. Will I keep going, or give it a break for the time being? See you all later.]**


	2. Crimson Haunting

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" Taiyang said, clearly bewildered by what he heard. After the battle against the Ursa Major and the Beowloves, Simon, Yang and Ruby were surprised to see their parents, who had witnessed Simon's skill with a whip. At the moment, Taiyang had been asking what had happened.

"So… you guys were out training Ruby in hand to hand and you were attacked by a Grimm?" Taiyang asked.

"Yep." Ruby answered.

"And Yang fought it by herself and took it out, one of the toughest creatures of Grimm you could come across?" he continued.

"You got that right." Yang said proudly.

"And then you were surrounded by Beowolves, which Simon beat the crap out of with ease?"

"That pretty much covers it, yes." Simon said.

Ruby went up behind Simon and jumped onto his back, waving her hands in the air. "You forgot one thing! Simon has an AWESOME aura, and he could concentrate it to specific areas, making it better for defence." Ruby added. A second later, Simon collapsed to the ground from the added, and unexpected, weight.

"Ruby…" Simon said, slightly in pain from the force of the collapse.

The young huntress in training chuckled nervously. "Sorry Simon."

The three teens looked at Taiyang and Alice in silence. Taiyang was thinking about the information he heard, while Alice's expression was blank, as if suddenly shutting down after hearing their story. Both Ruby and Yang were both worried. While she was a peaceful person by nature, she was extremely protective of her son. The idea of him taking on a hoard of Grimm by himself would've no doubt scared her to death.

After another second of silence, Taiyang bumped his fists together and grinned. "Awesome!" he said.

"What?" Simon said.

"Who? Ruby asked.

"Why?" Yang said.

"The kid was able to train himself to do THAT on his own. It was totally badass! Did you have someone train you or something?" Taiyang asked.

Simon shook his head. "No. Those skills were all me. I didn't expect my aura to flare out though." He admitted.

Ruby tilted her head at Simon. "What do you mean?"

"A couple of days ago, I took out a number of Beowloves near a deserted area in the forest, and by GOD was it dead. Anyway, as I was fighting they started to pile up. I was more… I guess angry than scared. My aura just blew out of me a second after that. I didn't think it would look like that, though."

"Well, it was awesome. You really should think about becoming a Hu-" Yang started, only for have her mouth covered by Ruby.

"Yang, watch what you're saying." Ruby whispered into Yang's ear.

Alice shook her head. "No. It's fine. I was just… a little surprised, is all." She said.

Simon raised an eyebrow. "You're not mad?"

"No. I had a feeling you were planning on something big. You would always be going into the woods for some kind of exercise. Plus, your reflexes seemed to have gotten sharper. Although, I wasn't sure about the art supplies you were bringing into your room, though."

Ruby gasped for a moment. "Did you also find out about our comic book?"

"RUBY!" Simon said, seeing how Ruby exposed the secret comic book project they were working on.

"Relax guys, everyone already knew you were making a comic." Yang said.

"DANG IT!" Ruby and Simon said simultaneously.

Taiyang and Alice shook their head and smiled at the two. Taiyang decided to speak. "So, what are you going to do now?"

Simon unhooked the whip from his belt. "Well, first I'm going to go back to the area in the forest I was talking about."

"Huh? Why?" Yang asked. Her eyes when to Simon's whip. "Are you looking for a new piece for the weapon?"

"Yeah. I got an idea for how to use dust in the weapon. And the piece I need is somewhere in that area… somewhere."

"LET'S GO FIND IT!" Ruby said, jumping into the air as if emulating a victory pose.

"Count me in!" Yang said.

"You guys are coming?" Simon asked.

"After that show you gave us, we can't let you show us up." Yang said, cracking her knuckles. "I'm gonna show you whose's boss."

Simon bowed towards her. "Challenge… accepted." He said. He then looked towards Ruby. "Be sure to bring you're scythe this time."

Taiyang's eyes widened. "You didn't bring your scythe? The only way you can defend yourself?"

"RUN!" Ruby said, speeding upstairs and collecting her scythe before getting out of the house, with Yang and Simon speeding after her.

The signal instructor sighed. "Those crazy kids. They're a handful, huh?" he asked Alice.

Alice shook her head. "They're more brightening in my opinion." Alice's face soon turned into a sorrowful expression. " _Have I… been holding my son back from what he truly wants?_ " she thought.

…..

After making their great escape, the teens made their way over to the area that Simon was talking about earlier. After half an hour of walking, they made it over to the location in question. The moment they arrived, they saw that Simon wasn't joking when he said that it was 'dead'.

The trees were all dead, remnants of dried up leaves surrounding them. The ground was made of grey, dried soil, the sky in the area was also grey, compared to the bright, sunny blue sky back in the village, and to top it all off, there was thick layer of fog and a small gust of wind that whistled through the air, adding an eerie, if not troubling atmosphere.

Ruby seemed a little nervous, but also interested (it helped that she was a fan of horror movies), Simon didn't take notice of the area as he was focused on the piece for his weapon, but Yang had no trouble showing her discomfort in being here.

"I don't GET IT SIMON! What kind of piece would get you to come to this freaky place!?" Yang exclaimed.

Simon turned around, fully facing Yang. "I told you, it's a piece that can help me use dust with the whip." Simon said.

"How? Can you fire blasts from the bottom of it when you get it?" Ruby asked.

Before Simon could answer the young reaper's question, he suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his head stand up straight. He took off his whip and unravelled it, cracking it at the same time. Yang and Ruby were both on edge after seeing his movements.

"What's wrong?" Yang asked.

Simon narrowed his eyes towards a particular direction. He motioned to the girls for them to follow them. Slowly, they traversed through the fog. As they moved, Yang and Ruby thought that they were heading towards a den of Grimm. Ruby instantly yelped and jumped into Yang's arm after hearing the sound of bats flying overhead.

After a few more minutes of walking, Simon raised a fist into the air, signalling them to stop. Readying his fighting stance, Simon lashed out his weapon, soon turning his hand around in circular motion. As he did, the whip also span in a twirling motion, the force becoming stronger by the second, up to the point where the force of the whip blew away the fog. After he was finished, it was revealed that the fig was hiding an old plantation house. It was clearly abandoned for some time, there were faded and cracked, the windows were either cracked or replaced with wooden boards. There was a small garden in from of the building, filled with brown grass and dead plants.

Simon's brow raised when he saw the building, amazed that he hadn't come across it before. Yang was beginning to look a little bit more nervous, however, Ruby looked at the plantation house with awe.

"Wow… that looks so cool." She said.

Yang was a lot less pleased. "Cool? More like freakin' nuts. What kind of person would build a house like this in the middle of nowhere!?"

"Someone who was wanting to stay away from society… apparently." Simon answered. "The question is, why?"

Ruby grinned. "How about we go in and find out?" Ruby suggested, using her semblance to dash towards the house.

"W-wait! Ruby!" Yang cried. She soon rushed after her. Simon wasn't far behind her, but mainly because he was interested in seeing what is inside.

" _That gizmo I'm looking for will have to wait… I guess._ " Simon thought, slightly disappointed that he would have to put his objective on hold.

…

As the three teens made their way into the house, none were aware that they were being observed by a silent figure in the shadows. When the figure was sure that they were far enough away, it stepped out of the shadows. It was revealed to be an elderly man, sporting very short white hair, an equally white goatee, eyes that had white iris' and the whites were instead black, wearing a black business suit with a white shirt, black tie, fine shoes and a pair of black gloves. He was currently smoking a cigarette, which he put into a cigarette holder after a few puffs.

"Well… this is interesting." He said. He pulled out a mobile phone and dialed a number into it. Placing the phone to his ear, he soon heard a voice on the other end. "We might stay here a while longer. Someone has managed to uncover the mansion." He listened to what the person on the other end said for a moment.

"If they uncover it, then there is nothing we can do in the matter. Actually…" he lowered the phone for a moment. He saw the teens enter the house after figuring out how to open it, to which the girl in the red cape began jumping for joy over. As he observed the teens, his eyes were able to pick up their auras. The caped girl's was red, the blond haired girl's was yellow, and the boy… his was a mixture of red and black, swirling together into a dark, menacing cloud. At this, the elder smirked.

"Forget what I said. We may have ourselves a candidate."

…

"Wooooow." Ruby said as they entered the house. While the outside seemed to make it look like a house of horrors, the inside was actually in perfect shape, especially the entrance hall, decorated with metal in the shape of many mythological creatures (mainly a humanoid bat of some kind). Granted there was quite a lot of dust coating the walls and the furniture, but other than that, it was impressive.

Even Yang was impressed with the set up. "Nice digs! I wouldn't mind living here now."

Simon frowned at their current surroundings. It didn't make sense that the outside of a house, that he was sure didn't exist the last time he was here, was wrecked on the outside and lavish… aside from the dust and weak lighting on the inside.

"Why would someone make a house in the middle of the forest? With the amount of Grimm that could appear here, it's too risky." Simon said.

Yang gave him a light tap on the shoulder. "Guess someone wanted to live on the dangerous side."

Ruby paced ahead of the other two, becoming more curious about the house by the second. As she came towards a staircase that led to the second floor of the building, her eyes caught onto something lying on the ground next to the rail. She went to it, picked it up and began inspecting it.

"Find anything Ruby?" Yang asked.

"I, uh… think I found a picture or something. It's covered in dust and…" before she could finish, she felt a tingling sensation across her right forearm. She looked at the area in question and saw a spider crawling across it. It was quite a small spider, but it was enough to cause Ruby to scream to the high heavens.

"SPIIIIIDEEER!" she squealed.

Yang and Simon both jumped from the surprise and pitch of Ruby's reaction. They then saw her using her semblance to dash around the room, hoping to knock the spider off, while continuously screaming "GET IT OFF ME!" in rapid succession. Simon grinned while Yang bellowed a loud laugh at her sister, even as going as far as rolling on the ground while clutching her ribs.

"Oh, sis, stop. You're going… to kill me." Yang said after finishing her bout of laughter, still trying to catch her breath.

As Ruby continued to fly around the room, her feet accidently collided with something. As she did, she tripped and tumbled to the ground, scraping her knee across the floor. She then collided with out of the walls.

"Ruby!" Yang cried, scrambling back onto her feet and made her way towards her, with Simon close behind and just as concerned.

"Ugh…" Ruby said. She pushed herself up onto one knee. Yang was soon beside her, placing an arm on her shoulder. Ruby looked over to her. Seeing the look of worry on her face, Ruby gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I've taken worse hit s from the Gri-Ow!"

As Ruby readied her other knee to rest on, she noticed it stung when she placed to on the floor. She quickly rolled onto her side to inspect why. Surprise and shock was written on her face, as well as Yang and Simon after seeing that her knee was bleeding.

"Wha… what?" Ruby asked herself.

"What the heck? I thought your aura was recharged." Simon said.

Yang was now looking in multiple directions, returning to her previously suspicious mind set back in the forest. "Okay, I change my mind, we're getting out of here." She said. She wrapped one of Ruby's arms around the back of her neck and lifted her up, quickly making her way towards the exit. However, before they could, the blood on the floor from Ruby's knee melted away into the floor, as if it absorbed it. As it did, the house began to shake, putting all inside on high alert.

"IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!" Ruby screamed.

"Well this is just lovely, isn't it?" Simon asked sarcastically.

Becoming angrier by the second, Yang decided that she had enough. She rushed over to Simon and asked him to look after Ruby for a bit.

"Uh? Wh-what are you going to do?" Simon asked.

As if to answer the question, Yang's eyes began to glow red again. Only this time, her hair was glowing and the tips seemed to be on fire. Both Simon and Ruby seemed afraid, knowing full well what was about to happen.

"Uh-oh." They both said weakly.

"Okay house." Yang said. She clenched her hands into fists, gathering as much aura as she could into her fists, then raising them up as high as she could, finishing by slamming them back onto the ground.

"Taste… my… **FURY**!" she roared. Upon impact, there was a strong shockwave that sent Ruby and Simon flying towards another wall. Seeing the oncoming surface, Simon quickly turned and landed on the wall with his feet, making sure that Ruby didn't hit the wall either. However, as he did, he felt a strong pain go up his legs. When the wave faded, Simon landed on the ground with ease. He was still able to walk, but his lower legs still stung a bit.

The house soon ceased to shake. As it did, Yang brushed back her hair and turned back to her companions. "I showed this house whose boss." She said confidently.

"Yep. You're the woman of the house!" Ruby said. As soon as she said it, Simon pulled out the score card he used earlier for ruby, still giving her a zero for the pun. Ruby whined in defeat, but quickly perked up again when she felt something unusual in the air.

"Hey… do you guys feel that?" Ruby asked.

"Feel what?" Yang asked.

A split second after Yang asked her question, a large, stone cylinder shot up from the centre of the floor, narrowly missing the teens. All three jumped at the sudden appearance. After the object stopped, it slowly rotate clockwise. All three were confused by what was unfolding before them.

"What's going on?" Yang asked.

Ruby, surprisingly, was staring at the object with awe… and a little drool emerging from her mouth. "Whhhooaa. This would be totally awesome for a comic book."

Yang and Simon both stared at Ruby with perplexed faces. Deciding to ignore her for the time being, they went back to looking at the cylinder. After a moment, the object slowly came to a stop. Yang slammed her fist toghether, reactivating her gauntlets.

"Let's bust it open!" she yelled.

"What? Why?" Simon asked.

"Because I bet whatever's been causing all this weird stuff here his hiding in that pillar thing." She rushed towards the object, both her arms pulled back as she prepared to strike. "Come out you COWARD!" she bellowed. Her fists collided with the object, unable to resist the impact as the cylinder was shattered into millions of stone shards. Simon knelt down and covered his head with his arms while Ruby hid behind her cloak. After the shards stopped flying towards them, they reappeared from their respective defences and saw Yang standing in front of the pillar. It was revealed that it was hollow on the inside, housing something that no one in the group were expecting

Inside the pillar was a skeleton lying on a stone table, with a cross shaped object imbedded where its heart would've been.

They were all startled by the scene in front of them, not expecting to find a sight like this in the mansion.

"Uh… what… is that?" Ruby asked, now holding Yang's arm for comfort.

"Do you think it was a murder?" Yang asked Simon.

Simon didn't hear her. He was already too engrossed in the sight of the skeleton, or more specifically, the item sticking out of its chest. Simon slowly walked over to the skeleton. Ruby wanted to stop him, but Yang pulled her back, knowing nothing would change the boy's mind after he made a decision. When Simon was over the skeleton, his hand slowly wrapped around the cross. He looked at the skull for a brief moment, noticing that its canines looked longer than the average person.

"Sorry about this." He said. He then pulled the cross out of the skeleton's ribcage, the cross now held as high as he could reach.

"SIMON! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Ruby screamed.

Simon turned back to them and held out the cross to them. "This cross is the piece I was looking for. There are many aspects to its design that I need to help with the upgrade to my weapon." He explained. He then lowered his hand and looked around the area and lightly chuckled. "Although, I didn't think we'd find it here."

"First our auras aren't working, then the house starts shaking, and now we're tampering with a murder scene." Ruby listed out. She frantically turned her head from Yang to Simon and back for a moment before bellowing "DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THE ISSUE HERE!?"

"I'm with Ruby on this one. We need to get out of here." Yang said.

Simon sighed in defeat. He wanted to inspect the weapon properly to help with his research, but he understood that their own personal safety came first. With that Simon turned back around and placed the cross back onto the skeleton.

"Rest in peace." Simon said calmly and respectively. He then walked away from the skeleton and made his way to the door, with the girls not too far behind. As they were close to the door, Ruby was peaking to Yang. "Who do you think lived here?"

"Prbobably… the _'Infamous Angel of death'_!" Yang said, deciding to take the opportunity to mess with Ruby. And it was working.

"'Infamous Angel of death?" the red cloaked girl asked.

"Yep. Apparently he sought to cleanse the world of evil by killing those who sought to do evil deeds. But he eventually saw the whole of Remnant as being evil, so he went around killing hundreds of innocents. His weapon of choice… a cross." Yang giggled on the inside as she saw Ruby starting to shake with fear. "Then, one day, he was caught. He escaped to an unknown house, which I'm guessing is this house, and tried to hide. Didn't work though. The people chasing him gave him a taste of his own medicine, as you can see."

Ruby turned back to the scene, now both filled with fear and intrigue. "Whoa." She managed to say.

"That's not all." Yang continued. "Before they killed him, the guy placed a curse, saying that if anyone was enter this house-"

" _ **YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE HERE!**_ " came a dark, tormented voice from the air.

The group stopped upon hearing the voice, with Ruby clinging on to Yang like her life depended on it. Simon turned back to the group with a confused look on his face. "Did you guys say something?"

Ruby was about to speak, but her voice immediately failed her. Her eyes widened to the size of plates a second later, further confusing Simon. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked.

To answer, Ruby slowly lifted her hand and pointed towards the door. Simon turned around and saw what had the girl so terrified. The edges of the exit, windows as well as cracks in the wall, were slowly leaking a familiarly red substance onto the ground. Upon seeing this, the group slowly stepped back.

"Well… this is not what I expected." Simon said.

"IT'S THE CURSE OF THE INFAMOUS ANGEL OF DEATH!" Ruby cried.

"Angel of de… what the heck are you talking about?" Simon asked.

"Don't bother." Yang said. While Simon was more confused than scared at the scene before them, compared to Ruby who was shaking like no tomorrow, Yang was becoming angrier by the second, not liking that what was supposed to be impossible unfold before their eyes.

"Alright, stupid cross killer, or whatever's doing this! If you think you can mess with us like this, then you've got another thing coming!"

Ruby looked to Yang with a look of concern. "Yang… don't antagonise it."

"How about you show yourself and face us instead of hiding like a coward!" the brawler exclaimed.

"Too late." Simon said deadpanned.

As if to answer her question, the pool of blood that was building up on the ground from the door, windows and cracks began to bubble, as if being boiled. In response, Simon pulled out his whip and uncurled it. Yang readied her gauntlets and Ruby, still afraid, unfolded the Crescent Rose into its scythe form.

"Get ready." Yang said. Her eyes were now glowing red.

Suddenly, Simon's eyes widened upon realising something. He turned his head towards the girls. "Quick question. If our auras aren't working correctly… won't it be easier for this thing to beat us?"

"… Uh oh." Yang said, realising how she, once again, took action before actually thinking about how to proceed.

In that instant, something burst from the large puddle of blood. It started with a large arm, followed by an identical arm. They pressed against the ground, pulling out a huge creature. When it was fully emerged, and the blood covering it faded away, it was revealed to be a giant with pale, yellowish skin, clothed only with a pair of old shorts, worn boots and a spiked helmet covering a face that revealed glowing red eyes. The puddle bubbled again, followed by miniature versions of the creature before them shooting out of the puddle and landing right next to their apparent leader.

The teens were all shocked, to say the least, at what they were seeing. Ruby then turned to her companions and gave them a weak smile. "Maybe they're friendly." She suggested.

This was quickly proven wrong when the leader roared and quickly charged at them with his head. The trio quickly dodged the attack, which led to the leader crashing into a wall and accidently lodging his head into it.

"Dumbass." Yang muttered.

Simon cracked hi whip and prepared himself. "We've still got the minions to deal with." He said. He sped towards the smaller creatures, lashing his weapon at them. He focused on direct attacks on the closest one, working to anger the rest of them. The strategy proved useful, as the fellow creatures were angry that their friend was being attacked. When they were close enough, Simon switched to his more wide-spread attack style, striking many of them at once. One managed to duck under one of them, allowing it enough time to dash up and aim for Simon's back.

However, a red blur intercepted the attack and sliced the creature in two. Ruby stopped some distance away from Simon and the larger creatures. However, she immediately felt exhausted after using her semblance.

"Whoa… I guess my aura isn't strong enough to support my semblance." She said.

She looked on at Simon. She could tell that he didn't need to rely on his aura to protect him, masterfully dodging any attack that came his way. While the attacks of the small creatures were clumsy, they focused on the element of surprise, which somehow proved ineffective against the whip user.

"No way can he be self-taught." Ruby said to herself.

"RUBY!" Yang yelled.

Ruby turned towards Yang, then to the leader of the small creatures after seeing him in her peripheral vision. The monster was almost free, a multitude of cracks appearing around where his head was lodged. Yang was trying to pummel the creature while it was stuck, hopefully making it too weak to fight back. However, all it seemed to be doing was making the creature angry.

Yang was about to fire more ammunition at the creature when it finally managed to break free, turning towards Yang with eyes that were glowing more brightly than before. It was clear that it was out for blood.

Using what little strength she had left, Ruby used the sniper attachment to fire a shot behind her (coincidently striking one of Simon's opponents in the head) and used the recoil blast to shoot towards Yang and the monster. She readied herself and swung hard with the scythe. As she did, she landed a strike on the opponent, taking off its arm in one swift movement. The creature bellowed from the pain and turned towards Ruby. At this point, all of Ruby's energy was gone, forcing her to collapse onto the ground. The creature was about to strike with its remaining arm when Yang punched it in the back of its left knee, causing it to fall.

"Don't… you… DARE TOUCH MY SISTER!" Yang roared. She charged towards the creature, aiming for its head. However, it quickly got back up and trapped her with its free hand in an iron grip. As it held onto her, its grip tightened around her, cracking a few bones inside. Yang resisted the urge to scream, instead hammering her fists into the creature's hand, hoping to have it release its grip.

Simon caught what was going on after making a quick spin with his weapon. He coiled the whip in one movement and dashed towards Yang, uncoiling the whip when he was close enough and lashed out onto the creature's remaining arm. However, the monster wasn't hurt in the slightest. Angered, Simon repeatedly struck the creature, ensuring that he didn't hurt Yang, hoping to find a weak spot. However, all it did was anger the monster more. It then charged at Simon, this time catching him and slamming him into a wall. The creature stepped back to see Simon embedded in the wall, still intact and alive, but in great pain.

"You… love your walls, don't you?" he said with a smile.

Ruby, who was still barely conscious, saw what was going on. Her sister was being crushed by a giant hand and Simon was injured. Ruby could tell that this was the end. Her mind suddenly went back to her memories of her family, more specifically her mother. A woman who had always been there for her, and was soon taken away from her. Her fists unconsciously curled up into a fist, unable to bear the thought of losing anyone else she cared about. Being unable to move, all she could do was pray.

" _Please… please… someone help us._ " She thought.

The creature took a few steps back, planning on smashing into Simon again and finish him off. Yang, despite the surging pain now wracking through her body, continued to hit the creature with all she had.

In that moment, Ruby cried "YAAANG! SIMOOON!"

In that instant, the creature halted all movement. Its grip on Yang loosened, allowing her to jump out and land on her feet. Pressing hard on the side of her left ribcage with her right hand, she dashed towards Simon and helped pull him out.

The creature turned to where the skeleton was lying in its makeshift crypt. Suddenly starting to shiver, the monster ran back to the blood on the ground, only to find it suddenly dried up.

" _You sought to imprison me?_ " Came a voice out of thin air. The monster, in response, dashed towards the door, slamming on it with hopes of trying to escape. However, the door was, currently, unbreakable or unlockable. The monster turned back towards the direction of the skeleton, pressing its back against the wall.

" _How foolish of you._ _All you've done is seal your_ own _fate._ "

With that, the skeleton slowly started to dissolve, turning into a pile of ash. When the skeleton was gone, the ash pile began to change into a dark, crimson colour and rise into the air. Seeming like a dust cloud at first, the remaining particles faded, turning the cloud into one of mist.

" _You seek assistance, Ruby Rose. It would be my pleasure to oblige._ "

"… How…?" Ruby said.

The mist darted towards the creature, cloaking it with its form. The monster tried to wave the mist cloud away, but to no avail. Soon, the creature was latching its own throat, grunting in pain as if it had swallowed a strong poison. Within seconds, the creature's hand dropped, and it collapsed onto its front. The remaining minions that Simon hadn't cut down looked and shivered, realising that they were now outmatched.

" _Do not, however, think I am doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I will take my payment now._ "

"Wait, what do you-" before Ruby could finish, The mist darted over to Simon, covering his head and entering his body through his mouth. Yang backed away from Simon after seeing the mist enter his body. After it finished going in, Yang picked up Simon and began violently shaking him.

"Hey! Get out of my friend! Who do you think he is to be going inside him like that!?" she yelled.

Simon's arms lifted up between Yang's and he swatted at them, causing her to let go. Simon landed on the ground in a crouched position, then he slowly got back up onto his feet. His eyes were now closed, but he slowly opened them, revealing them to be now scarlet instead of blue. Simon admire his hands and his clothes for a moment before he spoke.

" **I think, Miss Xiao Long, that he is a suitable candidate.** " Simon said, a voice now an amalgamation of both his and the voice from before, now speaking with a Scottish accent.

The possessed Simon turned towards the remaining monsters, which all began to run away from him, and smiled. " **Time to see how my skills are after such a long rest.** "

Simon's right hand suddenly became encased in a red, glowing gauntlet that resemble a large, skeletal hand. He moved it like he was attacking with his whip, only for a whip to emerge from the gauntlet, immediately slicing the creatures into pieces. However, instead of their remains lying on the ground, they instantly faded away of if they were never there. The being possessing Simon laughed for a moment before shaking his head.

" **How low have I sunk… to be sealed by such weaklings.** " He said. He turned around to face Yang, who looked ready for another fight. The being raised Simon's hand. " **Please, cease. I only aimed to destroy the creatures. I have no intention of harming you or your friends.** "

"Somehow, I doubt that." Yang said, not letting her guard down. The possessed Simon clapped her hands.

" **You are right to be cautious. However, as to show you that I mean well, I leave you three gifts.** " He said. He clicked his fingers and, in an instant, Ruby, Yang and Simon's aura's flared to life, instantly healing the injuries all received in the fight.

" **Your auras are now unaffected by these creature's ability to weaken your auras. It must have been quite a nuisance. My second gift…** " Simon clicked his fingers and the cross that was previously embedded in the skeleton flew towards Simon, who caught it instantly. " **This cross has capabilities that will protect you if anything like this happens again. I would suggest having it inspected in case it is not up to standard.** "

Yang looked at the cross for a moment, unsure of what to do. In the end, she cautiously took it from his grasp. "Thanks… I guess. What about the third gift?"

The possessed Simon gave Yang a blade like smile. " **That will be for you all to discover.** " He said. In an instant, the mist came out of Simon and he collapsed onto the ground. Said mist bashed into the front door and obliterated it, allowing for it and the teens to escape.

Yang looked at the mist go for a moment before turning to Ruby, who was clearly as dumbfounded as her from what they had just seen. A second later, Simon grunted in pain and got onto his hands and knees. He looked up to the sisters and gave then a small smile.

"You wouldn't believe it… but this still wouldn't count as the scariest day of my life."

"What!? Then what would!?" Ruby asked.

"Mrs. Pott's salad lasagna." Simon simply answered.

The girls seemed to have gotten the meaning, as they both shivered and began to turn green. Simon couldn't help but laugh at them. Ruby managed to recover and began to look inquisitive. "I wonder… what were those monsters? And why did that mist help us?"

"I'd like to know what he wanted with Simon." Yang said, raising an eyebrow at said teen.

Simon got back onto his feet and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know… but one thing's for sure." He said. he looked at the cross now in his hand. "We got what we came for, so we can go. Unless…"

Before Simon could say anymore, the girls shook their heads rapidly, clearly not wanting to stay any longer. With that, they all walked out, noticing that the area was a lot brighter than when they went in. Ruby smiled at the nice weather.

"Looks like the clouds and fog is gone." Ruby said.

"Guess whatever was going inside the house was making the outside look creepy." Yang said. She then pulled out her scroll and texted her dad that they would be returning home soon.

Simon looked up into the sky. He wouldn't tell the girls, as it was only a suspicion, but felt that whatever it was that tried to kill them in the house won't just end there. They discovered something… unnatural. Something more dangerous than the Grimm, if one can believe it.

However, despite the dark thoughts, he couldn't help but smile. " _If they come back, I'll make sure to take them out._ " He tightened his grip on the cross as another thought crossed his mind. " _And I'll be sure to give that 'mist' a beat down"_. Simon thought.

...

While the teens walked away, they were unaware that the elderly man from before was observing them as they were walking home. This time, he had a strong scowl on his face.

"They released him." He said in a dark, agitated tone. The cigarette in his hand was crushed as he remembered the red mist flew out of the prison set up for him. Unless he could be stopped soon, he would find a way to destroy everything he worked for. He flicked the remnants of the cigarette onto the ground. He then calmed himself down, knowing that he would get nowhere from just being angry. Instead, he chuckled at how thing would become much more exciting for the future.

"So… 'The Dragon' returns."

...

Unknown to all, Simon had been playing his aura as they were all walking home. He concentrated it onto his right hand, quickly enveloping his hand in it. When it had finished, it was in the shape of the gauntlet he wore earlier.

"Nailed it." He said to himself.

 **[There we go, another chapter done. In case anyone asks, I'm still going to be going ahead with this story. I tried to be a little darker in this chapter, since the first one seemed a little too light for the Castlevania element, I hope I didn't disappoint. So, if anyone is interested, feel free to say what you think about the chapter, all the ups and downs, I could use the feedback to help improve it if no one's happy with it. Well, see you all later, have a nice day.]**


	3. Trip to Vale

After a long walk back, giving the trio enough time to recover from the strange occurrences they had just seen, they had arrived back at Simon's house. All were exhausted, and quite honestly confused by what they had seen, and had just wanted to relax after it all. Before they went inside, however, Simon motioned for the three of them to get into a huddle.

"Alright guys-" Simon started.

"Girls." Yang corrected.

"Right, sorry. Girls, we need to make sure that we don't tell anyone about what we just saw, at least not until we're sure about what it was."

"I'm pretty sure that that's a no brainer, Simon." Yang retorted.

"I just want to make sure we're all on the same page." Simon defended.

"Good idea!" Ruby said, giving Simon a thumbs up.

Simon grinned in response. After they were all in agreement, They separated and went inside the house. Simon called out to see if his mother was home, but he got no response. Ruby suggested that she was probably still over talking with their dad.

"Well, now that we have the house to ourselves, let's check out that cross we got." Yang said.

Simon nodded in response, reaching for the cross and placing it on a coffee table in the center of the room. They all gathered chairs and sat around it, silently observing the object. They stared at it for thirty seconds before Ruby asked "What are we doing?"

"We're acting like a bunch of idiots, that's what." Simon answered, taking the cross and began observing the object up close. He squinted his eyes as he focused on the handle of the weapon. His eyes caught Yang and Ruby's confused faces, unconsciously smiling at how their faces looked before answering their unasked question.

"Remember when I told you I was wanting to use the whip I made to have a dust feature?" he asked, to which he got a small nod from Yang and multiple rapid-nods from Ruby. "This thing is able to embed whatever is placed in the handle into the weapon, hopefully making it more powerful."

"So you're going to try and apply the same mechanics to your whip?" Ruby asked.

"Yep, unfortunately this means that I'll need to put our comic on hold for now." He said, causing Ruby to cry and slam her head on the table. Simon cringed at the scene. "Sorry Ruby."

Yang rolled her eyes at the two, deciding to stand up, pick up Ruby and rest her on her shoulder (which Ruby didn't seem to care much about at the moment due to her being upset about the comic) and walked towards the door. She turned her head around and gave Simon a two fingered salute. "See you later, Simon."

"Bye Yang." Simon said back.

As soon as the door closed behind Yang, Simon went back to observing the cross. He tilted his head back as he allowed himself to relax, thinking it would help him find something of benefit to his idea. He shook the object, twirled it in his fingers and even tapped it against the table out of eventual boredom. He placed the object back on the table and sighed.

"Whoever made you sure knew how to lock you up tight." Simon said to himself.

"You didn't seem to be making much of an effort."

Instantly, Simon shot up from his chair and readied his whip at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Glaring with unusual ferocity towards the source of the voice, he held his free hand out, channeling as much of his aura as he could into it.

"COME OUT!" Simon roared.

At Simon's request, the mystery guest stepped out from a shadowy area of the house, revealing himself to be the old man who observed him and the girls earlier. Simon was surprised by the look of the man. He seemed normal in most ways, except for his unusual eyes which gave away a dark element to his nature.

"How do you expect to learn more about the object and what it holds by 'fiddling' around with it?" the man asked.

"I've my own way of figuring things out, old man. What are you doing in my house!?" Simon demanded.

The old man smirked at Simon's assertiveness. "Can we not have this conversation without all this tension?" the elder asked. However, as Simon remained as still as a statue, he saw that he would get nowhere unless he did as he asked. "Very well. I am here to speak to you about what happened at the abandoned manor earlier today."

"You… were there?" Simon asked.

"Indeed. However, I didn't go inside, and thus I don't know what happened, save for a red mist escaping the vicinity. In fact, it is that mist which I wish to focus on." The elder replied.

Simon's expression remained the same, but he lowered his arms and calmed his aura. "What do you know?"

The elder smirked. "Before we begin, should we not have proper introductions?" he asked.

"… Simon Wolfe." Simon said simply.

"You have an interesting name." the elder replied. He took a step back and gave Simon a formal bow. When he raised his head, he said "My name is Zobek. A former associate of said mist."

….

"Sooo, Ruby? What do you want to do for the rest of the day?" Yang asked.

Ruby, stopping mid-stride on their way back to their house, pondered on the question. "Hmm… I don't know. After seeing that house, I thought about just staying at home."

"No way!" Yang responded instantly. This cause Ruby to jump one feet into the air with shock. When she landed, she turned towards Yang with an angry expression.

"Don't do that!" Ruby yelled.

"Don't tell me that just because we were on ONE haunted house that you're ready to call it quits. We're not even halfway through the day!" Yang said.

"What are you going to do then?" Ruby asked with a smirk, hoping to catch her sister out.

"I'm catching a movie with my girl friends in vale, duh." Yang answered, causing Ruby to pout in defeat. Seeing Ruby's disappointment, Yang Spoke again. "Why don't you ask Simon to go with you to Vale to pick up some more supplies. He'll need more dust crystals if he's wanting to get his experiment right, plus you were wanting to check if the new 'Camp Camp' was out. Why not?"

Ruby pondered on what her sister said. She did like the sound of the idea. Plus it would help Simon. And there was a new milkshake café that she was wanting to try. After giving a small sigh, Ruby said "Fine."

"Great! Head over to Simon's house and see what he says."

Ruby nodded towards Yang and walked back over to Simon's house. As she did, Ruby began to wonder something. " _Is it really a good idea to talk to Simon now? He has to be freaked out by what happened in that house, especially after what that mist did to him_." She then shook her head frantically. " _What am I thinking? He got caught up in an explosion that nearly killed him… that he caused, and he came out of it with a smile. There's nothing that can bring him down."_ She thought again as she continued on her way.

…..

"So… you know the mist guy?" Simon asked the elder.

"Indeed I do. We worked together to try and save our world from the worst kind of creatures in existence. In comparison to what we faced, the Grimm you are trained to fight against are… to say the least… quite tame." Zobek said. He took out a cigarette and was about to light it when Simon shot a hand towards him.

"No smoking in this house, bud." Simon said sternly.

Zobek was silent for a moment, a little surprised with how quickly he reacted. He then smirked and put the cigarette away. "My apologies."

Simon observed the elder with great suspicion. Simon could feel a strong power radiating off of him, one that was certainly not from this world. Whether or not he was human was the only thing he had difficulty trying to figure out. He sighed before speaking. "I'm guessing, from what you're saying, he didn't stay with the good guys for long." He stated.

"Correct. Our journey revealed many troubling truths that lead him down a dark path. He was betrayed at every turn during this journey. In the process of saving hundreds and thousands of lives… he became a monster that took many more." Zobek said solemnly. As he spoke, his tone sounded dark, defeated, as if losing something important.

Simon was still skeptical. He sat back further in his chair and rested his head on his hand. "How did he become sealed here?" he asked.

"It was that very weapon you sought that suppressed him." Zobek answered, pointing towards the cross. "The most dangerous threat to all creatures of darkness. The legendary 'Vampire Killer'. It was said that it, alone, had the power to end his immortal life… however, recent activity has proven that it was false hope. He was freed after you pulled the weapon from where he was impaled."

"An immortal? What is he exactly?" Simon asked.

Zobek smirked. "You tell me, Mr. Wolfe. What immortal creature prowls the night, capable of morphing into a cloud of mist, who can possess the living?"

"… interesting…" Simon said, catching on to what Zobek was saying. He then lifted his head and leaned forward. "Why ask me for help?"

"Because, Mr. Wolfe… you have a special aspect to your character. I have become familiar with things such as the Grimm, Hunters… auras." Zobek smirked again as he saw Simon tense at the mention of auras. "Yes, I am aware of your aura, and what it is capable of doing. Such power is why I believe the mist is after you. He wishes to obtain that power, and he will not stop until he gets it."

Simon rolled his eyes. "And you want me to use it to take him out."

"You catch on quite quickly, don't you Mr. Wolfe?"

Simon chose to stay silent. He knew what this aura actually meant. He also didn't like the idea of more people becoming more of it as well. After taking in a long, deep breath, he answered the question that was on the elder's mind.

"No." Simon stated.

"… I beg your pardon?" Zobek said.

"I won't take any part in what you have in store. You and this mist clearly have your own issues, but that isn't a reason to drag me into it as well." He said. Zobek was about to speak when Simon spoke again. "And I'll be sure to send the same message to this mist when I see it again."

At this, Zobek frowned. "You are making a grave mistake, child."

"Indeed I am. I should've thrown you out sooner. I'm sure you can show yourself out." Simon said back.

A tense silence followed after that, the both of them staring intensly, neither backing down. After a few more seconds, Zobek turned around and made his way towards the door.

"Good day to you… Simon Wolfe."

"And to you… Zobek."

With that, the elder exited the house, leaving Simon alone in the building. He fell onto the chair and sighed. "Boy, that was a buzzkill." He said out loud. He was about to reach for the TV remote when he heard the back door opening and a familiar voice yelling into the air.

"ALRIGHT SIMON!" Ruby yelled. This caused Simon to rocket up into the air and bang his head off the ceiling, coming down back onto the chair with his eyes spinning. At this, Ruby chuckled nervously.

"Heh, heh, sorry." She said.

"Try to be… a little more… careful." Simon said as he was recovering from his head injury.

"Will do." Ruby replied. She then used her semblance to speed around the house and stop right behind the boy. "So, I was thinking, I was going to head into town to see if they've any new comics in. Would you like to come with me?"

"… Yang set you up for this, didn't she?" Simon asked after he recovered.

"Well, she really wants me to get out more. She thought that it would be more fun if I brought you along. What do you say?"

Simon pondered on what to say. Frankly, he was exhausted after his conversation with Zobek, and he felt he had enough activity after the mansion incident. But, he could tell that Ruby would be heading over to Vale either way, and she really didn't want to go alone. He finally sighed in defeat.

"Okay, fine. Let's go." He said finally.

Ruby's face lit up instantly. He jumped into the air with excitement, only to bash her head up against the ceiling as well, leaving her in the same state as Simon was just a minute ago.

"Yaaay…" she managed to say.

"Oh boy." Simon said as he rolled his eyes.

…

In another part of Vale, more specifically a country side area, a swallow flew through the sky. It sailed on through the clouds, allowing the wind currents to help guide its flight. As it flew, the last thing it expected, among other things, was to be actually be hit by one of these clouds.

Or rather, a crimson cloud.

As the swallow collided with this unusual phenomenon, it suddenly felt a strong chill go across its body. This death-like chill nearly caused it to lose concentration and fall, but it regained its form and continued to fly. The cloud also moved through the sky, only at an incredible speeds, as if it was wishing to reach a destination.

" _That boy. He holds the cursed aura. I haven't seen such a being in so long._ " It said to itself. " _Ozpin… if you're still alive, then you must have information on this._ "

In an instant, the cloud dived towards the ground. As it dived down, it created a powerful shock-wave that blew away many clouds, the force it was emitting only becoming stronger and falling towards the ground along with the mist. Upon impacting the ground, the excess force created a crater, destroying anything within its radius.

The mist then stayed within the crater, circling around, becoming darker, thicker, and slowly decreasing in size. This kept going until the mist formed the outline of a man; the shade of crimson fading quickly to reveal a human within. This man stood at least six feet tall, had skin as white as snow, red eyes and long, dark brown hair. He wore a large, open red coat with various gold lining spread across it, giving it a defined and Gothic appearance. He also wore red bracers, leather boots, grey pants and a gladiator sized belt in the shape of a skull. This man looked around, flexing the various parts of his body as he tied to adjust himself to this form.

"Clearly I have been sealed for too long." The figure said. When he was sure he had re-adjusted, he chose to follow the road he had landed on. His memory of Remnant has become hazy and wasn't sure where he could find his old ally, as such, it would be best to get a lay of the land, which could help him to regain his memory of the terrain.

AS he walked on, the figure suddenly felt the back of his head tense. This feeling usually only occurred when there was a strong power nearby. His head instantly turned to where he felt the source come from. The figure moved so quickly towards the source that he appeared as a blur. After travelling three miles, he stopped a hundred feet from the source he came across.

It has been rare for him to come across anything that could surprise him. He has lived long enough and seen enough to make him believe he had seen it all. However, one thing he found he wasn't prepared for was this.

….

"Oh, those crazy kids." Ruby said as she flicked through the new edition of 'Camp Camp'. She happily flicked through the pages as Simon was enjoying a cup of frozen yogurt. Out of all the new editions made to the 'From Dust till Dawn' store, he thought it was the best. He sat happily and continued to observe the numerous dust crystals behind the counter, as well as checking out the refined dust in the canisters to his left.

"Everything alright, sir?" asked the man behind the counter.

Simon was brought out of his daze from the shopkeeper's words. He turned to him and chuckled slightly. "I'm sorry, did you say something? I was lost in thought for a moment."

"No problem. I was just asking if you needed anything."

Simon was silent for a moment, the question causing him to remember something important. He pulled out his whip and a folded blueprint. "Well, since you're asking, I was hoping to find something to help with this design I've been working on for this puppy." He answered. He placed the whip on the counter and unfolded the blueprints, revealing the numerous ways that Simon thought of to implement dust into his weapon.

"Wow! That's impressive, kid." The shopkeeper said.

"Thanks, but they've all been failures except for two. One of them I had hoped to get from an old artifact from the elder forest back on Patch, but I had no luck."

At this, Ruby zoomed over to Simon with a stunned expression on his face. "You didn't figure it out!?" she exclaimed, receiving a nod of confirmation from her friend. "But that's impossible. You're, like, the total MASTER of weapon design. How could you not figure it out?"

"'Cause the guy who made it was obviously better." Simon answered, a hint of embarrassment present in his voice.

"Um… can I look at the whip?" the shopkeeper asked.

Simon nodded. The shopkeeper picked up the whip and unraveled it, observing the design and squinting his eyes at the various parts. He looked back to Simon with a surprised look. "You made this yourself?"

"Yep… it was a _very_ long time." Simon answered, the memory of having to weave the lash.

"Then the girl ain't wrong. You know you're stuff." The shopkeeper looked back at the blueprints and hummed to himself. He them smiled ad looked back at Simon. "The last design you've got here can work, that is, if you want to use it."

Simon looked back over the blueprints himself and saw what the old man was talking about, causing him to smack himself in the face. Ruby was curious about what they were talking about, so she got in between them and saw what was going on.

"Oooh. You were going to hollow out the handle and turn it into a dust dispenser and have it go _into_ the lash of the whip, imbuing it with the dust in question."

"Yep. I was going to do that next, but I really wanted to see what the Va-cross could offer me." He said, quickly correcting himself about the name of the artefact in case he was forced to reveal his conversation with Zobek. Thankfully, Ruby didn't notice.

"Well, you could try this design and try the thing on the cross you were looking for on another model when you figure it out." Ruby said.

"I'd listen to the girl if I were you." The shopkeeper said.

"… In that case, I'll buy refined fire, ice and lightning dust off you please." Simon said.

The shopkeeper nodded and got the supplies he asked for. Simon handed him the required cash, but he was given a 50% discount, much to their surprise.

"You really impressed me with all that work. I'll let you hang on to a bit to help fund other stuff in the future."

Simon nodded and turned around for the door. He was about to open it when he saw that Ruby wasn't beside him. He looked around and saw Ruby standing back at the magazine section with the comic she was reading earlier.

"Seriously?" Simon asked her.

"Give me five minutes." Ruby said quickly, now fully engrossed in the reading material.

Simon sighed and asked the shopkeeper if she could stay until she was finished, as he new nothing would move her otherwise. He didn't mind at all, fortunately.

"I'll be at the café across the street Ruby. Meet me there when you're done." The whip-user said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Ruby responded quickly.

Simon turned back to the shopkeeper said, both shrugging at each other. Simon exited the shop and went over to the café. This particular one was a particular favourite of Simon's. Not only were the prices reasonable, the food was excellent and the staff were some of the friendliest people you could meet.

Upon entering, he found a vacant booth and took a seat. After a few seconds, one of the staff members appeared. When she did, Simon's face unconsciously formed a smile. The girl was around the same age as him, light blue hair, green eyes and, surprisingly to most, a pair of fox ears on her head. This girl was a fox Faunus, and an old friend of Simon's.

"Hi Simon, how are you today?" she asked formally.

Simon smirked and shook his head slightly. "You don't need to be formal with me Cecile. But to answer, a lot better, thanks. And yourself?"

"I'm pretty good, thanks. Sorry about that, I've been having a little trouble focusing today." She answered.

"What's wrong?" Simon asked.

Cecile fidgeted with the pen she was holding for a moment before answering. "You know… how I applied to go to beacon?" she asked.

Simon nodded. "Yeah. I also remember your parents' reaction when you told them. I didn't think anyone could faint so quickly." He said, a look of surprise present on his face when he remembered said reaction. Her parents nearly died when she told them, as they were always afraid for their child's safety. Luckily Simon, who was with her for moral support, managed to help them recover and convince them that it would be a great opportunity for her. When they agreed, Cecile was both surprised by her parents' acceptance on the matter, and thankful that Simon helped her.

"I, uh… I'm getting the final answer today. I'm a little nervous, if I'm to be honest. What if I don't get in?" she said.

"Of course you'll get in." Simon said with confidence. "Keep in mid I was the guy you sparred with to keep your skills sharp. Even _Yang_ wasn't able to scare me as much in a fight, and that's saying something."

….

In another part of the city, Yang was on her way to the movie theater when she came to a halt, a sudden feeling of annoyance arising in her.

" _I don't know why… but I'm going to kick Simon's butt when I see him again._ " She thought.

….

"Really?" Cecile asked.

"Yep." Simon answered. As he did, he suddenly started to shiver. "You didn't have to encase me in _that_ much ice though."

Cecile giggled. "Sorry about that." She said. when she thought of the ice dust she used to trap her frend during one of their sparring matches, she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, how's your plan for a dust-compatible weapon?"

"Sorted." He said. "I actually got help from the guy across the street and Ruby." He answered, pointing back to the dust store.

"Great." Cecile said. the then pulled out a notebook and rested the tip of the pen on it. "So… the usual?"

"Yep, thanks."

The fox Faunus wrote down an order for a grilled cheese sandwich and potato chips on the side. She went over to the counter and gave the chef the order. Simon looked out the window and saw that it was already getting dark. As he stared out the window, he recalled his conversation with Zobek.

 _What immortal creature prowls the night, capable of morphing into a cloud of mist, who can possess the living?_

Simon frowned as he remembered that question. He also gritted his teeth upon remembering what kind of creature he was talking about. He looked back at his hand, concentrating some of his aura onto it and forming the gauntlet.

"What else can I do now?" he asked himself.

As he was about to be lost in thought again, he heard the sound of a window being shattered. His head turned towards the source and saw a man in a black suit and red sunglasses lying on the ground outside the dust shop he was just in. He tensed when he realized it was under attack, and his heart nearly stopped when he remembered who was inside.

"Ruby, the old man." He said out loud as he rushed out of his seat, leaving behind a couple of lien cards for the food and as a tip for Cecile. He pulled out the whip and unraveled it. As he did, he saw Ruby jumping out of the same window.

"Ruby!" Simon yelled.

Ruby wasn't paying attention. She was more focused on the group of men dressed the same way as the man now lying on the ground, being led by a man wearing a while suit, a bowling hat, red hair and had a cigar in his mouth.

As ruby smirked at them, the Crescent Rose unfolded into its scythe form. Ruby spun it around for a bit before sticking it in to the ground. Simon grinned at Ruby. Despite her social awkwardness, she was as cool as they came on the battlefield.

"Okay." The man in the white suit said. he then looked at his henchmen. "Get her." He said, as if he was pointing out something obvious. With that, said henchmen exited the shop with full intent on harming Ruby. As three came close, she had now problem dealing with them, striking them with her scythe one buy one, to which they fell easily. Five more appeared after that. Ruby used the recoil of a bullet shot to dash towards one of them, knocking him down instantly. Before the other four could even reach her, a lash of a familiar whip and wrapped itself around the waist of the first of the four. Ruby turned around and saw Simon, his aura flaring like no tomorrow.

"Simon?" Ruby asked with surprise.

"Weren't planning on saving any for me, huh?" he asked. With that he jumped into the air and pulled the henchman up with him. He spun him around for a moment before Simon came crashing down to earth, yanking the henchman down with him and smashing him into the remaining three like a wrecking ball. A cloud of regular dust filled the scene, soon clearing to see the unconscious henchmen littered across the ground.

"Show off." Ruby said with a smirk.

"Look who's talking." Simon said back.

The figure in the white coat exited the shop and looked at his henchmen with disgust. "You were all worth every cent. Truly, you were." He said sarcastically. He looked back at the two fighters and grinned.

"Well, kiddies, I think we can say that it was an eventful evening, and as much as I would like to stick around…" he raised the cane that he was holding, pointed the end towards them and an aiming attachment appeared over it. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

He fired the weapon at Ruby. Before she could defend herself, Simon dashed in front of her, held out his free hand and concentrated his aura into it, releasing the built up energy and make a small shield. The shield shattered when hit with the fire blast, but neither Simon nor Ruby were harmed. Simon was forced to cover his eyes as smoke from the projectile blocked his vision, as it did for Ruby. When it cleared, both the leader and the henchmen were gone. They looked around, checking where they went to.

"Over there!" Simon said, pointing towards the leader who was climbing a ladder of a nearby building.

"There too!" Ruby yelled, seeing the henchmen dart down the street, hoping to escape. They looked at each other for a moment before nodding in unison. Simon chased after the henchmen while Ruby went after their boss.

When Ruby reached the build her enemy was climbing, he had already reached the top. So, he fired herself up into the air, landing on the roof and continued to run towards her opponent. However, she came to a halt after seeing him how in an aircraft, standing at one of the shuttle doors as he stared down at the young reaper.

"Guess you're friend decided to chicken out, huh?" he asked, angering Ruby. The white-coated figure pulled out a red dust crystal and threw it towards Ruby. He aimed his cane at the crystal as it flew. "End of the line, kiddo!" he yelled as he fired at the crystal.

Knowing what would happen, Ruby braced herself for the attack.

….

Simon caught up with the henchman quickly enough. He jumped high into the air and pulled out a blue ice crystal. He threw it in front of the henchman. When it hit the ground, it exploded, encasing the first five in ice. The remaining three quickly turned around, hoping to escape, only for Simon to land right in front of them. The whip user gave them a sadistic smile, scaring them to their core.

"Hey man, listen, we don't want to cause trouble." One of them said.

"Really?" Simon asked. "Let me tell you something, you burnt that bridge after you caused trouble at that dust shop. So don't give… me…" Simon said, his speech trailing off as he saw something that made his jaws drop.

"What?" another thug asked. He suddenly felt something strange around his shoes. He looked down and saw a crimson liquid forming around him and the others, as well as around those trapped in the ice.

"W-w-what's going on!? What's with all this BLOOD!?" the third screamed.

Simon stared at the scene with pure shock on his face. It seemed that the mist wasn't the only thing to escape from the mansion in the end. He the suddenly became aware of a couple of leaves hanging in the air, with complete stillness. To confirm the theory he had on the matter, he looked at his watch, seeing that none of the hands were moving.

"Whoa." Simon said.

 _ **You cannot escape us**_

Simon froze upon hearing that voice. He looked back at the thugs and saw that they were all starting to sink into the blood. When they saw this as well, they all began to panic and scream.

"What's going on!?" yelled one of them. He looked towards Simon and held out a hand towards him. "Please, please he-"

Before he could finish, a red tendril shot out the blood, looking similar to veins in a blood-shot eye. It wrapped itself around the thug and pulled him into the blood, similar tendrils shooting out and doing the same to the remaining thugs. Simon couldn't hold back a look of horror as he saw what had happened.

A second later, all the henchmen shot out of the blood and into the air. The blood faded away and all the thugs landed on the ground, leaving spider web cracks in the ground. They all looked up at Simon. They removed their glasses and revealed that their eyes were completely crimson, some dark veins appearing on the skin around their eyes.

Simon tightened his grip on the whip. He then rushed forwards and lashed out at them with the weapon. They all moved away, which was then followed by them rushing towards Simon. The first kicked at him, to which Simon evaded easily. The thug followed with a few more spinning kicks, which Simon evaded by jumping into the air. Another thug managed to jump up after him. Simon simply readied himself and stomped his foot on said thug's face, using it as a spring board to get more height. Simon then shot back down, concentrating his aura into his free fist and hit it with as much force as he could.

The punch created a shock-wave that blew them all away. However, after they landed, they got back instantly, as if they hadn't been injured at all.

" _This is just like what happened back at the mansion. I need to find another way to take them out._ " Simon thought. His eyes suddenly widened in realization, his head turning towards the hand he held his whip in. With a sigh, Simon wrapped up the whip and placed it on his belt. He then brought his fist up to his face. He concentrated his aura into the arm and, in an instant, it formed the same gauntlet at before.

"Time to test _this_ puppy out." Simon said with a smirk.

All the thugs rushed towards him, all of them raising their fists at him. Simon smirked. His eyes began to glow red and, in an instant, swung his arm around, the whip taking on a similar red and black appearance as the gauntlet. The whip struck them all in one motion, sending them all flying into a nearby building.

Simon retracted the whip. He looked at the gauntlet with amazement. He couldn't believe that there was so much power behind it.

"This thing's pretty cool, but…" Simon looked back at the whip he made. "I think I like you better." He said to the whip at his side.

"AAAARRGH!" the thugs all screamed.

Simon looked back at the thugs. They were all writhing in agony. After a few seconds, they began puking large quantities of blood. Simon readied the gauntlet and was about to strike. However, he saw that the thugs were returning to the way that they were before. When they were finished puking, they all looked normal again and fell unconscious. To make sure, Simon went up to them and looked at their eyes. When he saw that they had reverted to their original forms, he looked around. He saw that the leaves were still in the air.

"Um… it's over?" he said, hoping that would get time flowing again.

As if to answer his request, the leaves suddenly began to flat onto the ground. Simon checked his watch and saw that it was moving normally again.

"Great, that's one problem sorted." He said.

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard an explosion nearby. He turned around and saw that it was the building that Ruby had gone onto to chase the thugs' leader.

"Uh oh." Simon said. h then ran as quickly as he could, hoping it wasn't too late.

…..

"After the fire dust crystal went off, Ruby expected to be blown to smithereens. However, instead she opened her eyes to see someone new standing in front of her. She had blond hair that was tied back into a bun, green eyes, glasses and was holding a riding crop in her right hand. She stared back at the man with a stern expression.

He cursed and went back inside. Ruby looked behind her and began to wonder where Simon was.

"I hope he's okay." She said to herself.

She looked back and saw, in the coated figure's place, was a woman whose face was covered in shadow, but her eyes were glowing ember. She wore a red dress and glass slippers and the designs in her dress were soon glowing. As they did, the woman shot fire at Ruby and the other woman. They both dodged the attack. The woman with the riding crop then pointed towards the debris from the attacks with her riding crop. As she did, the debris began to take on the form of an arrow. She shot the projectile at the aircraft. As she did, the debris separated and flew apart. She gathered them up again and repeatedly hit the aircraft as much as she could.

The woman in the dress shot more fire at the tow on the roof, which prompted the telekinetic to use the debris as a shield. As they continued to battle, Ruby turned her weapon into its gun mode and began shooting the ship, despite not even making a dent.

"Come on." Ruby said to herself.

Then, out of the blue, Simon appeared beside her, causing her to gasp in surprise.

"Simon!? Where-"

"Hang on a seconds. I've an idea." Simon quickly said.

He once again gathered as much aura into his right arm as possible. When he did, he opened his palm wide, causing the aura to flare out and take the shape of a large disk. Surprised, Ruby took a step back from her friend and saw how his aura was reacting.

"Whoa! What are you doing!?" Ruby asked in disbelief.

The blond huntress also looked at Simon with surprise, having never seen anybody use their aura like that. " _How… that's impossible?_ " the huntress asked.

The disk in Simon's hand spun in his palm at a high velocity for a moment, then he threw it like a Frisbee at the aircraft. The disc sliced into the ship's hull, prompting the woman in the dress to make her way back into the ship and close the door, ending the fight. The ship, despite its damaged state, was still able to fly away. Simon tried to summon another disc, but his aura didn't respond. He gritted his teeth as he realized that he used up too much energy.

The ship was then gone. Simon collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and defeat, having wanted to catch the criminal, while Ruby looked at the woman who helped her with awe.

"Wow. You're a huntress." She said. She then raised her hands up to her head, excitement practically bursting out of her. "Can I have your autograph?"

…..

"Your actions will not be taken lightly." The huntress said to Ruby and Simon. They were now being held in an interrogation room in the police station, and the huntress was giving them quite the earful. "Not only did you put yourselves at risk, but who knows how many would've been hurt from your reckless behavior."

"But they started it, right Simon?" Ruby said.

Simon was leaning back on his chair, appearing to be asleep, but heard every word. "I will say that Ruby and I were only trying to help." He said assertively.

The huntress paused for a moment before speak. "I understand that. That's why, were it up to me, you would be sent home with a pat on the pack…" she started, causing Ruby t feel better about herself. "And a slap on the wrist!" she finished sternly, whacking the riding crop onto the table, causing Ruby to pull back and yelp and Simon to fall off his chair. The huntress stepped back and folded her arms.

"However… there is someone who wishes to speak to you both."

The woman opened the door, revealing a man with silver, messy hair, spectacles, wearing a black suit with a green scarf. He was holding a mug of coffee and a large plate of cookies. He walked over to the table, focusing his attention on Ruby for the time being.

"Ruby Rose." He started. He narrowed his eyes for a moment before speaking again. "You… have silver eyes."

Ruby raised an eyebrow at the man in confusion over what he said. He then turned his attention towards Simon.

"I beg your pardon, Simon Wolfe." He said.

Simon shook his head with a smile. "No worries. Ruby tends to draw more attention anyway."

"Hey!" Ruby yelled.

The blond huntress rolled her eyes. She then proceeded to pull out a monitor and began playing video footage. Ruby and Simon were slightly surprised to see it was footage of them fighting the thugs and the man in the white suit.

"Where did you two learn how to do this?" he asked.

"Uh… Signal Academy." Ruby answered.

"They thought you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" he asked.

"Well, one teacher in particular." She answered.

"… I see." He said. he placed the plate of cookies onto the table. Ruby looked over to Simon, tilting her head towards the plate if he wanted any, to which Simon shook his head. Ruby tried one cookie, only to quickly devour what was on the plate.

"It's just that I've only seen one scythe wielder of that skill before. A dusty old crow."

" _That's my uncle._ " Ruby said with a mouth full of cookies. She swallowed all that was left before speaking again. "Sorry. That's my uncle Qrow. He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage until he took me under his wing, and now I'm all…" Ruby then make numerous ninja poses and sound effects to illustrate her point.

"Oh God." Simon said in annoyance.

"So I've noticed." The silver haired figure said to Ruby. He then turned to Simon. "You've been awfully quiet. May I ask if you also learnt your craft at Signal as well?"

Simon shook his head. "No. My mother wouldn't let me, he's pretty protective. Everything I know is self-taught."

"That's quite a feet, seeing how well you handled yourself out there."

"I know, right? He's super cool." Ruby interjected.

Bringing his attention back to Ruby, he placed his mug onto the table and raised an eyebrow. "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing in a school designed to train warriors?" he asked.

"Well… I want to be a huntress." Ruby answered.

"You want to slay monsters?" he asked.

"It's more about helping people for her." Simon said, to which Ruby nodded.

"He's right. And also for the monster slaying part. I only have two years left at Signal and then I'm applying for Beacon. You see my sister is starting there this year, and she want to become a huntress, and I want to be a huntress because, like Simon said, I want to help people-"

"Ruby." Simon interrupted, causing Ruby to jump. "I don't think they need your life story."

At this, Ruby chuckled nervously. "Sorry. I guess I was getting nervous again."

Turning his attention back to Simon, their current 'interrogator' smirked at Simon. "Tell me, Mr. Wolfe. Why train to become a warrior? There are certainly less stressful occupations that would make your life easier, as well as the fact that you didn't get the chance to train in a proper institution."

"Doesn't matter to me. I train so that I can do my part to help our home." Simon stated.

"You go Simon!" Ruby said, giving him two thumbs up.

The silver haired coffee lover stayed silent for a moment before speaking again. "Tell me, do either of you know who I am?" he asked.

"You're professor Ozpin. The headmaster of Beacon." Ruby answered.

"Hello." Ozpin said, giving a proper greeting this time.

"Nice to meet you." Ruby said in response.

"Same here." Simon said.

"So, you would like to attend my school?" Ozpin asked.

"More than anything." Ruby said with complete certainty.

"If I could, I would." Simon answered.

"Well… how about we make that happen."

At this, Ruby and Simon looked at each other in confusion. Ruby was the first to speak. "You mean… like this year? But I just said I've two years left in Signal, and Simon's hasn't attended a combat school. Sorry Simon."

"No problem Ruby."

Ozpin grinned at the two. "Well, in this case… we will make an exception."

Ruby and Simon looked at each other again, both filled with excitement. However, the excitement fell from Simon's face when he remembered something.

"Oh sugar. I forgot my sandwich at the diner!" Simon said with shock. He looked back to Ozpin. "Sorry sir, but can we get going? There's somewhere I need to be." He said.

Ozpin nodded in response. "Yes, you may both leave." Simon quickly got out of his seat. "But…" Ozpin started, causing Simon and Ruby to halt. "Please get in contact with me at some point after you arrive at Beacon, both of you. There are some things I wish to discuss with you both in private."

"Deal." Ruby said.

"… Okay then." Simon said.

"And also, Mr. Wolfe..." Ozpin took a sip from his coffee mug before speaking again. "Tell miss Cecile that she is welcome as well.

…..

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Taiyang yelled.

After Simon and Ruby had returned from their trip to Vale, which proved to be more exciting than they anticipated, they waste no time in informing their parents about what had happened. Yang and Taiyang were ecstatic that Ruby had gotten into Beacon so soon. Alice, on the other hand, seemed conflicted after hearing the news.

"I can't believe my baby sister is going into Beacon with me this year. This is the best day EVER!" Yang said.

"Imagine how I feel!" Taiyang said soon after.

"Oh, thank you both so much." Ruby said, clearly happy to hear that her family supported her so much. However, her enthusiasm turned into worry when she remembered Simon. She looked back to Simon and his mother.

When Alice saw Ruby looking at her, she gave her a smile. "I'm sorry Ruby. I'm happy for you really. It's just…"

"You didn't expect me to going in as well." Simon finished for her.

Alice sighed. "Simon, I know I tried to be supportive after what happened back at the clearing but… I'm just worried."

Simon grinned and placed a hand on his mother's shoulder. "Mom… I know you're worried. I appreciate it, really. But nothing's going to happen."

Alice stayed silent for a moment. When she got her thoughts in order, he lifted the hand Simon had on her shoulder and held it with both of her hands. She smiled at her son with eyes that were starting to water.

"Okay… I believe in you. Train hard." She said.

"YAAAAAY!" Ruby said, shooting up into the air and, once again, banging her head against the ceiling. She fell back down to earth on the couch. As her eyes were spinning, Simon shook his head. He turned back towards his mother with a raised eyebrow.

"Is it really _me_ you should be worried for?" he asked.

…

Ozpin sat in his office in the hunter academy building. Despite being a school, it appeared more like a large fortress or a small castle, built on a separate foundation from the mainland of Vale. As Ozpin sat in his office, he was looking back over the security footage that was taken of Ruby and Simon. This time, he was focusing more on Simon. He saw something unusual about the footage. After he saw Simon trying to stop the thugs, he saw the build-up of blood at the thugs' feet.

He had made sure that this part of the footage was erased, as he couldn't risk anybody seeing it. As he continued to watch the footage, it seemed to cut out for a few seconds, playing again to reveal Simon standing over the thugs in a collapsed building. This certainly raised concern in his eyes.

"If this is happening… then it means…" he said to himself. Before he could say anymore, he heard his scroll beeping. He took it out and saw that it was a message from Glynda, the woman who helped Ruby and Simon and who was with them in the police station.

 _You have visitors. Will I send them up?_

Ozpin was surprised to hear this. He wasn't expecting any visitors, and it was strange that someone would be calling to visit at this time of night, never mind the fact that the school wasn't even open yet. However, he was curious to see who it was. He messaged Glynda back.

"Yes please, Glynda. Thank you." He said out loud as he typed the message.

A few minutes later, he saw the elevator door open. He was initially surprised to see who it was.

The first was a woman in her twenties. She had dark skin, shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a white blouse, dark brown leggings, gold-coloured boots, a gold bracer on her left arm and a gold pauldron on her right shoulder.

"Amber? What are you doing here?" Ozpin asked. He picked up his coffee mug and made his way over to Amber.

"She has me to thank for that." Came another voice.

At this, Ozpin froze. He lost his grip on his coffee mug and let it fall to the ground and shatter. He saw the person with Amber, a man with a tall, broad build, a familiar red and gold coat, long, dark brown hair and stern, red eyes, as well as fangs protruding from his mouth.

"It's been a long time… old friend." The figure said with a solemn expression.

 **[Alright, I'm wrapping it up for now. In case anyone asks, I thought that it would be good to give the fanged fella an appearance, since he already made an appearance. A lot of you may know who he is already, but because there might be some non-castlevania fans reading this, I'll won't say anything direct yet. Also, I decided to show off more of what Simon's aura can do, since I already showed how he was able to make the whip gauntlet with it. Why not make more shapes? Well, that's all I have for the moment. If anyone has any questions about anything here, feel free to ask, I won't mind. Right then, talk to you later, bye.]**


	4. A misty welcome

**[Hi everyone. Hope all's well with you today. It seems we have ourselves another chapter here. Wonder what will happen? After seeing that Yang, Ruby AND Simon managed to get in, it will be interesting to see what else will happen. Now, to quote a certain castlevania character-**

" **Enough talk! Have at you!"]**

"Oh, it's still so exciting!" Yang said as she pulled her sister into a strong hug, which caused Ruby to lose all the air in her body and feel like she was being crushed.

"Yang… can't breathe…" she managed to say. As she did, Yang released her, giving Ruby a look of where they currently were. They were on an airship that was making its way to Beacon. A variety of students were currently on the ship; some were sleeping, others were making adjustments or last minute improvements to their weapons. However, two students were on the balcony of the ship throwing up from the air travel.

One of these unfortunate souls was a blond-haired boy who wore a black hoodie, blue pants, sneakers and armor around his chest and shoulders. The other was Simon's friend Cecile, who was now wearing a light blue t-shirt that went down just as far as her navel, denim jeans, sandals and two boomerangs holstered at her sides.

"You _really_ can't handle air travel, can you?" Simon asked. He was currently trying to support his ailing friend. After Cecile heard that she was accepted into Beacon, she was overjoyed. Her parents were a little worried (which reminded Simon of his mother's reaction), but they were still happy for her. Unfortunately for the Fox Faunus, she didn't know that she would be going by plane. Air travel was never something that she could handle well. The girl answered his question with another bout of retching.

Simon sighed as he saw his friend suffering. Hearing similar noises behind him, he looked over to the blond-haired boy and tilted his head over the railing, hoping to make eye-contact with him. "You okay there?" he asked.

The boy looked over to him and tried his best to smile. "I will be… after I'm dead." He said. His face then became green and he began to vomit again. The whip-user sighed again. His eyes caught Ruby and Yang talking. He looked back at Cecile. "Will you be okay for a few minutes?" he asked.

Cecile managed to pull herself up above the railing and looked at her friend and forced a smile. "I'll be okay. Tell Ruby and Yang I… I…" with that, the girl returned to throwing up her lunch.

" _I probably shouldn't have gotten us those chilli dogs._ " He thought to himself. With that, he patted his friend on the shoulder and told her he'd be back in a bit. She gave him a thumbs up and he went off. When he reached the two girls, he saw Ruby with a face full of nervousness.

"Ruby, are you alright?" he asked.

Ruby shook her head. "No. I'm a little… no. I _really_ nervous. I don't think I'm able for this." She said.

"Well try not to get too nervous, there's already enough people spewing outside the ship." Simon said as he pointed back at Cecile and the blond-haired boy. Yang stepped beside Simon and rested an elbow on one of his shoulders.

"Why are you so nervous? You're a total bad-ass, both Simon and I know it! You're going to be the bee's knees." The blond brawler said.

"I don't want to be the bee's knees guys. I don't want to be anyone's knees. I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees." Ruby said back.

Simon's expression softened as he saw Ruby look even more nervous than before. "What is the matter? Earlier you couldn't wait to get in the doors. What changed?"

Ruby hung her head low, but she still eyed her friend. "It's just… I've been moved two years ahead. I don't want to upset people by making them think I'm special."

Yang went up to her sister and wrapped her arm around her sister's head and gave her an encouraging smile. "But you are special." She said.

"You shouldn't let what other people think get in the way, kiddo. Just do the best you can and enjoy yourself." Simon added.

Ruby was about to say something when they heard something on the holographic display. They looked up to see what it was. It was primarily about information regarding that criminal that Ruby and Simon had intercepted. They showed an old profile picture of the criminal, confirming that it was the criminal 'Roman Torchwick'.

"If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale police department." A reporter on the television said.

When he was finished, Simon gritted his teeth. "I could've had him if my aim was better." He said out loud.

Yang gave Simon a curious look. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"When we tried to stop that Torchwick guy, Simon made a large Frisbee out of his aura and hit the ship. It still got away thought." Ruby explained.

"Thanks Ruby. That last part is always what people like to hear after messing up." Simon said with an irritated tone.

"Heh heh, sorry." She said nervously.

Yang instantly got in between to two of them with a shocked expression. "Hold the phone! You made your aura into a weapon!? HOW!?"

"SSHHH! Keep it down!" Simon said. He didn't want people to know about this power. At least not until he had more control over it. After quickly looking around to make sure no one is looking, he explained himself to Yang. "I think it's part of my Semblance. I can change the shape of my aura into different kinds of weapons."

"And I thought that making parts of your body was cool enough." Ruby added.

Yang whistled and folded her arms. She then turned to her sister. "Looks like you're going to have some competition when we're in Beacon, sis." She said, motioning her head towards Simon.

Ruby giggled slightly and gave Simon a look of determination. "I look forward to it." She said, her confidence renewed.

"Looking forward to it." Simon replied.

Ruby then excused herself from the group and went to look out one of the other windows. Yang and Simon looked at each other and grinned.

"Nice work, Xiao Long." Simon said.

"Of course." Yang said while flipping her head back.

Simon inwardly chuckled at Yang's lack of modesty. However, his smile disappeared when he heard something being discussed on the display.

"In other news, this Saturday's Faunus civil rights protest turned dark when members of the white fang disrupted the ceremony."

At this, Simon clenched his fists again and glared at the screen. Seeing his anger, Yang placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He didn't look back, but he placed his hand on hers in thanks. Simon was a big believer in equal rights for the Faunus; especially when he was younger and he saw a young Faunus boy being bullied a few human ones. It was also the first time Simon lost his temper and lashed out at the bullies. He was grounded for a month for leaving the bullies in hospital, but the Faunus boy and his family were grateful for him standing up for them. After he befriended Cecile, his determination was enhanced, and he would do his best to help.

However, seeing how the White Fang were acting was driving him up the wall (metaphorically speaking). Their actions only further divided the two races and has caused great harm to both humans and Faunus who didn't follow their beliefs.

"The once peaceful organisation has now disrupted-" before the reporter could finish, the feed was cut out and a holographic image of Glynda Goodwitch appeared. All of the students present gathered around to see what was going on.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon." She stared. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is currently experiencing an incredible time of peace. As future huntsman and huntresses, it will be your duty to uphold it. You have all demonstrated the skill needed for such a task, and now it is our job to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world. We hope you will enjoy the experience."

With that, the hologram faded. Simon was surprised to see her seem so nice, considering that she seemed so strict and up-tight the last time he saw her that he didn't think she even knew how to smile.

"Wow!" Ruby said.

Yang and Simon heard her and went over to the window she was looking at. The young reaper turned to them and pointed outside.

"Look! You can see Signal from here!" she exclaimed.

Yang smiled and stared at the view outside the window. "I guess isn't as far away as we thought."

"True that." Simon added.

The peaceful moment lasted a few more seconds before they all heard the sound of heavy heaving. All three turned towards the source and saw Cecile and the blond-haired boy continuing to lose their lunches. All three sighed.

"Hope they'll be okay." Ruby said.

"Cecile will be fine. Although I can't say the same for the boy." Simon admitted.

As soon as he said it, the boy, who had momentarily recovered and held himself above the railing. However, a small bit of turbulence caused him to move forward and he was starting to go green again.

"Uh oh. Hey, hey, hey!" Yang said.

"Code green! Code GREEN!" Simon said as he held up his hands in defense.

"NO. Get away, get away, get away!" Ruby exclaimed.

…

A couple more hours of flying later, the students have finally reached the campus. Upon exiting the ship, many were impressed by how well structured it was. It looked like a small castle or a large fortress. While many were engrossed the sight, two students, that being Cecile and the blond boy were just happy to get out of the ship. The boy was continuing to vomit into a waste bin while Cecile was lying face down on the ground, happy to not have to suffer anymore.

She soon felt someone tapping on her head. She pushed herself onto her knees and turned to see Simon and the sisters.

"Still alive, we see." Simon said.

Cecile laughed nervously as she scratched the side of her face. "Uh… yeah. Can we not talk about that?" she asked.

"No objections here. After the boy nearly hit us with his spew cannon, I've had enough." Ruby said.

Yang offered her a hand up, which Cecile took gratefully. When she was on her feet, they continued on their way to the building. By the time they reached the main entrance, it was filled with a variety of people. Yang, Cecile and Simon we're focused on the environment. However, Ruby was paying more attention to the various weapons the other kids were carrying.

"Oh, that kid has a collapsible staff! Ooooh. And she has a flame sword." Ruby said. she began to unconsciously follow the students when Yang pulled her back by the hood of her cape.

Cecile raised an eyebrow at Ruby's behavior. "You're really into your weapons. Aren't you?"

"Yeah, I could never understand it either." Yang said.

"How could you not!? The weapons we use are an extension of ourselves." She said passionately.

Yang then raised an eyebrow at her sister. "What's with the interest in all these weapons? Aren't you happy with your own?" she asked.

Ruby unfolded her scythe and cradled it like a child. "Of course I love the Crescent Rose. It's just that I like seeing other weapons too. It's like meeting new people. Only better."

"You know that you're going to have to meet the owners of these weapons at some point, you know. Friends would help make things easier for yourself." Simon said.

"Well… why would I need friend when I have you guys?" Ruby asked.

A group of people suddenly appeared behind Yang, who was getting ready to run. "Actuallymyfriendsareherenowgottagobye!" she said before dashing off e#with her friends. A large dust was made. Ruby was spinning from the force of Yang's quick escape while Simon was coughing dust particles out of his lungs. When he was finished, he looked around to find that Cecile had gone as well. He guessed that she went with Yang. He looked over at Ruby and saw the young reaper's eyes spinning. Before she fell over, Simon quickly held her by the shoulders to support her. When she recovered from her dizzy spell, she looked over at Simon and gave him a look of gratitude.

"Thanks Simon." She said.

Simon released his grip on her and grinned. "No problem. Just be careful, you never know what could happen."

"Sure. I bet that will be easy now thaAAAAGH!" Ruby said, her screaming at the end caused by her slipping on a puddle and falling backwards. This time, Simon was too late to react and the girl fell onto a pile of luggage. With all the bags on the ground, Ruby raised herself off the ground, with Simon struggling to keep in a bout of laughter.

"Hey! Watch what you're doing!" came a voice behind them.

The reaper and whip master looked towards the source of the noise to see a girl around the same age as Simon. She had long, white hair that was tied into a pony tail that was sticking out on the side of her head. She had pale skin, blue eyes, with the left one having a thin scar on the eyelid. She wore all white, blouse, jacket that went down as far as her hips, combat skirt and boots. She wore a rapier on her hip.

"Oh, uh…"

Ruby got back onto her feet and picked up one of the cases, intending to hand it back to the girl in question. However, the girl just snatched it back from her. She was clearly full of rage for some reason.

"Do you realize what is in here?" she asked. She then opened the case to reveal multiple canisters of refined dust.

"Whoa! That's a lot of dust." Simon blurted out. He didn't think it wise to carry so much dust at the one time, given how volatile the material was. However, either this girl had taken a number of precautions to make sure that it was all safe. However, he wasn't convinced.

"Yes, dust. Mined and purified at the Schnee Dust company." The woman explained.

"Uh…" Ruby wasn't sure about what to say next. She didn't like how irritated she seemed and was worried of saying something that might offend her. However, given the look on the girl's face as he looked at Ruby, this only served to irritate her more.

"Are you dense?" she roared at Ruby as she pulled out one of the canisters. "Dust! Fire, Ice, Lightning, Energy!" as she spoke, she was shaking the canister that she was holding at Ruby's face. ash she did, some of the dust escaped the canister and was floating around in the air. Ruby and the other girl didn't notice, but Simon did… and he started to panic.

"Um, excuse me, can you stop sha-"

"Quiet you." The girl snapped. She looked back at Ruby a large amount of dust around Ruby's head. "And what have _you_ to say for yourself?"

As if the answer the question, Ruby's nose reacted to the Dust and was about to sneeze. Seeing what was about to happen, he made a split second decision. He went over to the girl and stood right in front of her.

"Wha.. What are you-"

Before she could finish, Ruby sneezed and the force of the sneeze, while not overly powerful, was enough to cause the Dust to activate and create an explosion. The force of the blast didn't hit Ruby, but it went straight for Simon and the girl. Luckily, Simon managed to concentrate his aura onto his back, which took the brunt of the force. When it faded, Simon looked around and saw a large amount of soot and scorch marks.

"Wow. Fire dust really can do a lot of damage." Simon said. he turned back to the girl, who was in a state of shock after seeing what Simon has managed to do.

"How… how did you…?" she was able to say.

Simon simply smiled and cocked his head to one side. "That's my little secret." He said. He then turned back around to Ruby and quickly paced over to her. While he could tell that she was alright, he couldn't help but be concerned. "You okay?"

Ruby nodded and hugged her friend briefly. "Yeah. Thank goodness you're okay."

"YOU IDIOT!"

Ruby and Simon both looked perplexed from hearing the yelling behind them. They turned back around to see the girl in white glaring at Ruby.

"Don't you realize the level you could've caused? This is exactly the type of thing I was talking about." she roared. However, she was far from finished. "You complete dolt. Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Um, well…"

"This isn't your ordinary combat school, it's not just sparring and practice, you know. We're here to fight monsters, so watch where you're going!"

"HEY!" Simon yelled, causing both Ruby and the girl to jump. "You watch your mouth, princess! If you don't want that to happen then don't shake around those canisters and flinging Dust in the air!"

"It's heiress, actually."

All present turned around to the source of the new voice to find a girl with long, raven black hair that had a bow on top, yellow eyes and a calm expression on her face. she wore a black and white outfit, purple leggings and black boots.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee dust company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." She explained.

"Finally, some recognition." The girl, now named Weiss Schnee said with a smug tone.

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." The raven-haired girl continued.

"Wha- how DARE you!" Weiss roared. Ruby giggled at how easily the girl in white was put in her place, while Simon looked at her with a blank expression. Simon had heard about how the Schnee dust company treated the Faunus; they had become the very definition of what the White Fang defined the human race to be. Granted, he knew not everyone in the company hated the Faunus, but given how poorly they were treated by the company, it wouldn't change a thing.

Weiss said nothing. Instead, she turned around, collected her bags and walked away, a couple of bodyguards following her. Ruby was about to say something to Weiss, but Simon stopped her, shaking his head. They looked on for a moment before Ruby turned around to talk to the girl who put the Schnee girl in her place.

"Hey, thanks, I…" she didn't continue speaking when she saw that the girl in question had already walked off.

Simon also saw her walk off, but he didn't mind. She probably felt that it was best not to get involved any further in something that she felt wasn't her business. He then looked back at at the school. He smirked as he looked on at te structure. However, his look of admiration slowly changed into a look of confusion when he saw something circling around the tallest part of the building. It then morphed into a look of horror as he recognized what it was.

It was the mist that was in the old mansion, the same being that Zobek tried to warm him about. Granted, he still didn't trust Zobek, but he still wasn't sure if whether or not it was friend or foe. Being a fair person, and since it helped him and the girls out, he would at least investigate. He turned back towards Ruby.

"Sorry Ruby, I need to get going." He said before generating some aura into his feet and using the power to dash off.

"WHAT! HEY, SIMON!" Ruby yelled as she watched him shoot off. She slumped her shoulders in defeat and looked at the building, the red mist no longer present, thus Ruby didn't notice.

"Welcome to Beacon." She said before falling backwards onto the ground. Today was not going well so far, that much was for certain. After a moment, he noticed that it had gotten darker, she looked up and saw the blond-haired boy from earlier. He held out a helping hand to her.

"Hi. I'm Jaune." He said.

"Ruby." She said back. She took his hand and he helped her back onto her feet. When she was on both her feet, she looked at him with slight curiosity.

"Aren't you one of the people that threw up on the ship?"

…..

" _C'mon! he couldn't have gotten far._ "

Simon ran like his life depended on it. The mist didn't seem to be circling the top of the building anymore, which meant it either faded, or it was hiding inside the building. Seeing first-hand what it was capable of, he wouldn't allow it to cause any harm to anyone here.

He ran through the halls, hoping to find his way to the top. However, after a few seconds more of running, he found that he was still lost. Cursing himself for his stupidity, he went to a nearby window and looked out. He saw that the tower in question was just outside. Deciding he would acve to risk it, he jumped out the window and ran to the base. When he was there he concentrated more of his aura into his feet. When he built up enough, he jumped up as high as he could which, with the help of his aura, was close to 150ft. When he was losing speed, he channeled his aura into his right hand and formed the gauntlet, embedding the sharpened finger tips into the wall and started running up the side. He had to put more force into his legs now that he was dragging his hand through the concrete, but he still managed to keep up his momentum and he remained focused on reaching the top. If he lost focus for only a second, it would lead to a landing that would prove too tough, even with the help of his aura, to survive.

After a few seconds of running, he was close enough to the top of the tower. He pulled out the gauntlet and used the remaining aura in his legs to leap back into the air and land on top of the tower. Taking a second to catch his breath, he looked down towards the ground. He was personally amazed that he was able to cover such a distance with such little ease.

"Cheese and crackers." He unconsciously said with amazement, unable to believe that he had performed such a feet with a power he hasn't had for even two weeks. "Ruby and Yang will never believe it." He then paused for a moment as if he had an epiphany. "Aw man, now I'm hungry."

Putting his hunger to one side for the minute, he looked around and found a vent, large enough for anyone of normal size to get through. He opened it and slid right in. after a minute of trying to navigate through the vents, he came across a light shining in and, upon approaching it, found that it was the air duct leading to an office. If he had to be honest, it had to be one of the nicest offices he had ever scene.

He shook his head when he realized he was becoming distracted. He kicked the vent open and dropped down into the office. He readied his whip and spun around quickly, making sure that no one else was present. However, he couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was watching him.

"Whoever's hiding here then you'd better come out." He said. He unraveled the whip and cracked it. He eyed all parts of the office. It was as if the feeling that was having was getting stronger by the second.

Then, in a brief moment, Simon heard a low, dark laugh that sent a chill down his spine.

" _So you noticed me at last. It took you quite some time, didn't it?_ "

In an instant, the red mist appeared again and dashed for Simon. Upon contact, instead of possessing him again, it bashed into him and sent him flying into a wall. The mist spun around and dashed for Simon again. The young fighter saw him coming this time; he pulled himself from the wall and let the mist further damage the wall.

Simon lashed out at the mist with his whip, only for it to pass through the mist. His eyes widened with shock realizing that a cloud of mist actually had the better hand against him.

"Well that's not going to work." Simon said with a deadpanned tone. He then pulled out an ice dust crystal. "How about we try this?" Simon threw the crystal at the mist and lashed his whip at it. When it broke, a cold air filled the room even freezing a portion of it. The mist, much to its surprise, was suddenly moving more slowly and sluggishly. At this, Simon threw a fist into the air.

"Alright! It worked!" he exclaimed.

" _Impressive child… however…_ " the mist moved onto the ground. When it made contact, it began to reshape itself. At first it was unclear what it was doing… that is until the mist cleared and there was a man kneeling where it was. Said man was completely still. Simon managed to see that he was wearing an elegant, and Gothic style, red coat with golden designs, dark pants, ref bracers and leather boots.

Simon was impressed with the attire, but he was more focused on what the figure might try next. "What are you trying to do?" he asked.

The man stood up and looked directly at Simon. Simon could see that he was also wearing a large belt that had a skull in the center. He also had claw-like fingernails, pale skin, long brown hair, glowing red eyes and, much to his surprise, fangs.

"Uh oh." Simon said.

The man gave him a stern look. "Tell me child. How confident do you feel against me?"

….

Back in the entrance hall, all the students had gathered as instructed to hear more words from the staff. Entering the hall were Ruby and Jaune, who had spent a while getting to know one another, talking about weapons and actually trying to find the hall itself. One thing was certain, they would need to work hard to try and learn the layout of the school.

"Well, that took a while." Jaune said.

"Don't I know it." Ruby said.

"Hey, Ruby!" came Yang's voice. Ruby looked around and spotted her sister, within in a large crowd of people, waving at her. "Over here!"

Ruby looked at Jaune for a moment. "Sorry Jaune, I need to go. Talk to you later." She said before running towards her sister. In response, Jaune sighed in defeat.

"Great. Where else am I going to find a nice, quirky girl to talk to?" he said to himself, unaware that he was being stared at by a red-haired girl with Spartan armour from a distance.

Ruby ran over to her sister and glared at her, which Yang didn't notice.

"So, how's you're first day going so far?" the brawler asked.

"You mean after you ditched me?" Ruby asked.

"Hey, I just wanted to catch up with my friends is all. I didn't get to talk to them before coming here with all the stuff going on." Yang defended. Her eyes suddenly widened and looked around the hall, looking as if she was looking for something out of place. She looked back towards Ruby. "Where's Simon?"

I don't know. He said he needed to check something and left as well." Ruby answered. She then sighed before speaking again. "I was mad at him for a moment, but… he did seem a little worried."

"Think we should but in?" Yang offered, slamming her fists together and activating her gauntlets.

Ruky shook her head. "Nah. Simon hates it when we get involved in things he wants to do privately." She said. she then gave a small giggle before saying "Remember when he nearly threw a tantrum after we found out he was painting a picture for the town for all the kids going to Beacon a few years ago?"

"Hard to forget… maybe that should've been our first sign that he could fight." Yang replied.

At this, both girls laughed away. That is until Ruby heard a loud and sharp "YOU!" from behind. Ruby jumped into Yang's arms and looked frightened.

"Oh God, it's happening again!"

…

Simon struggled to get up as his opponent was slowly getting closer. After the mist had materialized into this figure, it was able to put up much more of a fight. However, Simon couldn't help but think that he was more than tough enough in his most form.

"It seems that you've endured enough child." The figure said.

Somehow irked by this, Simon slowly got back onto his feet and glared at his opponent. Simon readied his whip again and lashed out at the figure with as much strength as he could muster. The figure easily dodged to one side, giving Simon a dark smile. However, the tables soon turned for a moment when Simon altered his movements, causing the tip of the whip to spin around and strike the red-coated opponent in the back of the head.

Briefly impaired, he was momentarily vulnerable to a flurry of whip lashes that came his way. Mid-attacks, the figure saw Simon as he struck him. The boy had a strong anger in his eyes, one that he didn't think was present in him at first. When he fought at the mansion, it was with stern precision and seriousness, not allowing emotion to cloud his judgement. But, presumably, the figure had stirred something inside of Simon that caused him to attack this way. At this, the figure only thought two things.

" _Much better_."

Simon pulled back and recoiled the whip. Then with a battle cry, summoned his aura and coated both his arm and whip. He uncoiled the whip and spun it around in a circular motion. With his aura embedded into the whip, the attack created a concentrated hurricane that zoomed towards the opponent. He saw that he couldn't block this, so he moved towards the side. The attack instead created a massive hole in the wall behind him.

The figure looked back at Simon for a moment. The boy was as still as a statue as he was hunched over and looking down at his feet. The figure smiled and lowered his guard. He walked over to Simon slowly, his right hand opened wide and fingers flexing. He flashed a smile which revealed his fangs and raised his hand up into the air.

"It's the end for you boy… and you had so much potential." He said before he brought his hand down on Simon.

"Not yet." Simon said with a smirk.

The whip user quickly dodged to the side, evading the clawed hand, and coated his feet with his aura. As he did, she suddenly moved around the room with incredible speed, making it look like he was teleporting around the room. Simon also proceeded to enhance his shins as well, making them effective weapons as continuously struck the fanged enemy in the face. To finish it off, Simon ran around him a few more times before stopping right in front of him, jumping and kneeing him in the chin to send him flying, following him quickly through the air, getting over him and the turning around mid-air to give him a kick that sent him flying straight back down.

As the opponent crashed into the floor, creating numerous cracks in the ground, Simon suddenly had a single thought going through his head.

" _I wonder what the floor is made of, since it hasn't been shattered?_ "

As the opponent tried to get back up, Simon quickly stood over him and pointed at him with an aura covered hand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said with a grin.

A moment of silence soon followed that comment. The red coated adversary eventually sighed. "Very well, I concede."

In response. Simon jumped backwards and landed in a squatting position. "Wow, I've got to say, it was really annoying trying to get the upper hand in that fight. But, after clearing my head with 'Hurricane', I was back in action."

The figure raised an eyebrow at him. "'Hurricane'?"

"Yep. That's the name for the move I did. The other one… I don't know yet." He admitted.

"… You're awfully positive, aren't you?" the figure asked, causing Simon to tilt his head in confusion. "I assume that you would be… less than happy to speak with me."

Simon shook his head in response. "Nah, you're alright." He said, causing the figure to look at him with further confusion. Simon's face became more inquisitive looking as he narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin while smiling. "Although, I am curious as to why you'd be here in Beacon. Lose you're pet bat or something?"

"… I assume you know what I am then?" the figure asked.

"Yep. A Vampire, and a pretty tough one too." Simon revealed. "However, I'm more interested in tow things. One, what are you doing her?"

The figure stared at Simon for a moment, noticing how confident the boy was all of a sudden. Seeing how he was a worthy adversary after all, he felt no reason to hide anything for the moment. "I am here to seek assistance form the man who runs this institution. He may have answers for what is to come."

"To come?" Simon asked, slightly confused.

"Let's just say that the time of peace you're all enjoying… shall end quickly and painfully." He turned around and looked out one of the windows of the office. "Unless someone can stand against it."

"You think you can?" Simon asked the figure.

He chuckled, causing Simon to tilt his head to the other side in response. The figure turned back around and said. "Not I… but you."

"Me?"

The figure nodded. "Aye. You and the allies you gain in the future will be the ones to fight off the dark. It's one of the reasons I chose to save you in that mansion."

Simon stood up properly and folded his arms, looking a tad more serious than before. "Any other reasons?"

"… so long for now." the figure said. with that, he disappeared in a flash of red light. Simon, alerted by this, rushed over to where he was standing, even though he was already gone. He was about to sigh when something caught his eye. He bent down and picked up, what seemed to be, an amulet with red gems inside. He traced his finger over the markings, curious as to what it might be. However, he put it behind him for the moment.

"No point dwelling on it further for now, I guess." He said. his face suddenly morphed into one of shock as he remembered something important. "UH OH! I LEFT RUBY BY HERSELF! YANG'S GOING TO KILL ME!" he roared out loud. He looked around and found an open hole that had been made during the fight. With little thought as to what might happen to him, as was what happened with his method of getting up into the office, he charged through the hole, zooming right through and made it outside, using his aura to get back towards the surface and summoning his gauntlet as he embedded the fingertips into the surface and slid down back towards the ground.

"As he slid down, the woman with shoulder length hair saw Simon sliding down the side of the tower through a clear window. She knew that he was in no danger, but she pressed a hand up against the glass and looked towards him with a solemn look.

"May he find the light… that saves him from the dark destiny that awaits him." She said to herself.

 **[And with that, we'll leave it here for now. hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I took the liberty of making some canon changes to add something different to the story, hope everyone's okay with that. I'd better get going now, still have other stories to right, and I can't really put them off either. It wouldn't be fair, would it? Right, see you all later, don't forget to review and I hope you all have a great day. ;-) ]**


	5. Preperation

"I'll… keep this brief."

After all the first years had been gathered in the auditorium, Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwtich had entered the room, where the white, messy hired headmaster stood up on the stage. When he started to speak, all the students fell silent as he said his piece.

"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

As he spoke the students listened to the headmaster, they felt their spirits lift, looking forward to any uplifting words. Ozpin saw their faces fill with enthusiasm, yey he continued on, knowing that reality was about to hit the hard.

"But I look amongst you… and all I see is wasted energy, wasted energy in need of purpose, direction." He continued, noting the now present looks of defeat showing themselves amongst the crowd. "You assume that knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far."

As he glanced over the crowd, his eyes fell upon a familiar young girl with black hair and red highlights. He recognized the girl beside her, Yang Xiao Long, her half sister if he recalled correctly. He was partially surprised to see that Mr. Wolfe wasn't there.

"It is up to you to take the first step." He finished.

When he had finished, he stepped off the stage and allowed Glynda to speak.

"You will all gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation will begin. Be ready. You are dismissed." She said before stepping off the stage herself. As she did, Yang and Ruby looked on at the platform with curiosity, still bewildered by the headmaster's words.

"He seemed a little… off." Yang commented.

Before anyone could say anything else, Ruby felt someone tap her on the shoulder, causing her to yelp and jump into Yang's arms again. She held her head close to her sister for a moment, only to raise her head in surprise when she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey everyone. What'd I miss?" Simon said to the sisters.

Ruby helped jumped out of Yang's arms and turned to Simon, planning to give him a hug when she looked in horror at her friend, more specifically the torn clothing, bleeding cuts and dark bruises on his arms. Yang also looked at him in shock, while Weiss, who was standing beside the sisters, gasped and covered her mouth in shock from the appearance of the whip master.

"SIMON! OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?" Ruby cried, using her Semblance to dash around her life-long friend to check for any more injuries.

"Dude, were you hit with a dust bomb or something?" Yang asked, her reaction not as strong as Ruby's, but her worry level was just as high.

Simon laughed and held his hands behind his head. "Relax. I ran into… an acquaintance before coming here. The reunion we had was a little more active than I anticipated." He explained.

"You look like you were in a WAR ZONE!" Ruby cried, looking at her friend with worry.

Simon was about to speak when his eyes caught sight of the Schnee Heiress. At the sight of her, Simon had to hold back a growl of anger, the memory of how she treated Ruby still fresh in his mind. Putting on a false smile so as not to cause any more conflict, he politely asked. "How are you, Miss Schnee?"

"How…" Weiss started, surprised to see the boy from this morning look like he was beaten with a wrecking ball. "How can you still be standing?"

Simon smiled back. "One of the main things I worked on while training was how to take a beating. Better endurance that way." He said to her. Before she could say and more, Simon held up a hand to her. "As interesting as this conversation has been, Miss Schnee, I'm afraid that I have need of food. Good day to you."

As he turned away, Ruby and Yang looked back at Simon with a look of interest. He normally spoke in a formal tone to people he didn't like. In a way, it was interesting to watch when it happened, because usually Simon liked everybody. Either way, the girls joined him as he made his way to the cafeteria.

"So, tell us." Yang said.

Simon quirked an eyebrow at the brawler with confusion. "Tell you what?"

"C'mon, Simon." Ruby said, holding her hands together as if pleading to him. "We know that you don't know anyone that would go all out on you. After that incident with the bullies you rarely left the island." Suddenly, Ruby's eyes widened with fear. "Oh no, those bullies didn't find you, did they?"

Simon shook his head. "No, if it were, they'd be out of here on stretchers." He said.

Yang placed her hands on her hips and lowered her brow at their friend, her patience wearing thin. "Then what was going on?"

Simon lightly bit the inside of his cheek, not keen on telling the girls about the vampire he fought back in the office. However, he knew that he couldn't keep it a secret from them forever. In the end, he sighed and defeat and said. "The thing I fought was that mist we came across at the mansion."

At this, Ruby and Yang froze. Simon had taken a few more steps before he noticed that the girls had stopped moving, turning his head back to see how terrified they looked.

"The… the mist that possessed you?" Ruby asked, her lips starting to tremble. Seeing this, Yang wrapped her arms around her younger sister.

Simon the let off a slight chuckle, confusing the girls slightly. "Yep. Good news by the way, he's actually a decent guy." He said.

"A decent guy?" Yang asked. "It looks like he knocked the stuffing out of you!"

"Well you need to have a right ol' fight to get to know a person, right?" he said with a cheeky smile. His positive attitude seeming to help cheer up the girls. A thought occurred to him, knowing that Ruby would enjoy this. "Plus, you'll never guess how he's able to do it."

"Is it a Semblance?" Ruby asked.

"No." Simon said.

"Is he a pyrotechnic guy? Cause I bet he's be _smoking_ hot." Yang suggested, trying to lighten the mood with a pun. This only worked to make Simon cross his arms like an 'X' and shake his head, both he and Ruby shaking their head at the pun.

"Eh-Eh, thank you for playing." The whipmaster said.

"So what is it?" Ruby asked, now more curious than ever.

"Well, he's… wait… what's that smell?"

His thoughts were instantly removed of the vampire when his nose caught the scent of something familiar. Something sweet. Something…

His eyes sparkled with anticipation. "COOKIES!" he roared as he dashed through the corridors at a speed that rivalled Ruby's.

"COOKIES!? WHERE!?" Ruby asked, chasing down after Simon with her Semblance, leaving Yang by herself.

"What- hey! Get back here!" Yang exclaimed, trying to keep up with the sweet fanatics. As she ran, she couldn't help but think about what Simon was going to tell them.

" _Just what is that thing?_ " she thought to herself.

…..

Ozpin was going up the elevator, thinking about the speech he gave to the first years. While it may not have been the most uplifting speech, it was better for them to be made more aware of reality than inspire them with false words. He looked to his side to see Glynda looking through the student's profiles.

"Anything interesting pop up since you checked those profiles two minutes ago?" Ozpin asked sarcastically.

"I just want to make sure that everything is in order, sir." Glynda answered, her eyes not leaving the screen for a second.

Ozpin looked back at the elevator door, looking forward to seeing his office, or, more specifically, the coffee he had prepared earlier. When the elevator dinged and the door opened, however, neither professors were expecting to see that the office looked like that it was torn apart. The windows were shattered, the table was destroyed, there were deep marks in the wall.

Ozpin cocked an eyebrow at this, simply surprised, while Glynda felt ready to explode with anger after seeing this.

"Who…" she started, causing Ozpin to take a small step away from the woman. "Who… DID THIS!?" she roared. She stomped into the office, looking left and right for any clue as to who, or what was responsible.

Ozpin walked to the center of the room, a knowing and amused smile present on his face as he suspected who the culprit was. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Aren't you uncomfortable up there, my friend?" he asked out loud.

Glynda looked back at her employer with slight confusion. She then looked up and, giving a startled gasp, saw the vampire sitting on one of the supports, his red eyes staring down at them with a dark glee.

"Thank you for your consideration, headmaster." The vampire responded. He slid off the support, his falling speed surprisingly slow as he made his way towards the ground. When his feet hit the ground, he looked back at the professors, noting Ozpin's calm expression and Glynda's shocked and fearful expression. Seeing the latter, he bowed towards the Huntress.

"My apologies, Professor Goodwitch. I didn't mean to frighten you."

There was less fear in the Huntress' expression after seeing this, now replaced with genuine surprise.

"So…" Ozpin started, both hands resting on the top of his cane. "Any reason as to why my office looks like it had gone through a war while I was away?"

The vampire smiled. "I had the pleasure of coming across the boy who released me. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of assessing his skills."

"And what do you think?" he asked.

"He has great skill, but he needs to work on anticipating the movements on his opponents. Personally, however, for a boy that was self-taught, he was quite dangerous. He even managed to catch me off guard at one point."

"Not often I'd see that." Ozpin noted.

"E-Excuse me?" Glynda said, gaining the attention of the other two. "But… how do you two know each other?"

"Glynda…" Ozpin started, before motioning towards the vampire. "Allow me to introduce on 'Gabriel Belmont', an old friend and possibly one of the most ruthless fighters one could ever have the misfortune of encountering." He explained.

"Please, Ozpin, you give me far too much credit." The creature, now known as Gabriel, said in response to the headmaster's comment.

Glynda looked at him with suspicion. "You'll forgive me, I'm sure, if i find myself distrusting of this man, sir." She said to Ozpin.

"Understandable." Ozpin said with a grin. "Gabriel here doesn't tend to make friends easily. And that's putting it lightly."

Gabriel chuckled at the comment, while Glynda glared at the red-coated warrior. After a few seconds, she calmed. "Very well. Pardon me for my actions, sir."

"Apologies unnecessary." Gabriel said. He turned towards the elevator and began to walk out of the building. "I hope you won't mind, professors, but I must-"

"Just a moment, Gabriel." Ozpin interrupted, causing Gabriel to stop in his tracks. The vampire looked back and saw a knowing smirk present of the Headmaster's face. He frowned, as he never liked it when Ozpin had that look on his face. "Before you go, there's something I'd like to talk about briefly."

"… Very well." Gabriel answered.

Ozpin looked at Glynda. "Glynda, can you give us a minute?"

The Huntress looked unsure, as she still didn't trust the newcomer. However, she wasn't planning on going against Ozpin's word yet. She nodded her head in agreement and made her way to the elevator. As the doors closed, Ozpin motioned towards tow chairs that hadn't been broken in the fight. As they sat down, Ozpin grinned at the vampire.

"Where do you plan on going now?" Ozpin asked.

Gabriel looked past Ozpin and through one of the shattered windows as he thought about his current objective. "For now, I will work on restoring my strength." He started. "While I haven't lost as much strength as I had the last time I was put to sleep, I still wish to regain my power."

"Preparing for the worst rather than hoping for the best?" Ozpin suggested.

"More so to ready myself for a rematch." Gabriel corrected. Seeing Ozpin's questioning look, Gabriel answered "Zobek is here as well."

"… Well that's unfortunate." Ozpin commented. He readjusted how he was seated before continuing. "I assumed that he had been dealt with by your hand."

"Like it or not, he _is_ death. As such, it is nothing more than a mild inconvenience." Gabriel stated. "If I ever find a way to end him permanently, I'll inform you."

"Much appreciated." Ozpin said.

The two sat in silence for a moment. The vampire broke the silence by asking "Is there anything else, old man?"

Ozpin grinned at the comment. "There is one more thing I wish to discuss with you." The headmaster said, looking towards the ground. He turned his head towards the vampire. "Or rather… an offer, if you will."

…..

As night time came, the first years were all getting ready for bed in the ballroom. Many were already fast asleep in their sleeping bags, while some were still wide awake. Among them was Yang and Ruby, who were sleeping at the edge of the divide between the boys and girls. This was so that they could stay close to Simon, who was also resting at the edge.

"Isn't this great?" Yang asked her friend and sister. "It's like a big slumber party."

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys, though." Ruby pointed out.

Yang looked over at the boy's side with a quite the look of interest. "I know I would." She stated as her eyes took in the view of shirtless torso, only to feel like retching after seeing Jaune in a onzie.

Simon simply shook his head at the silliness as he was examining his whip, which he managed to sneak in with him. His eyes then caught Ruby writing on a piece of paper. "Hey, Ruby, what are you writing?"

"I'm writing to my friends back in Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going." she answered.

"Awww, that's so cuuute." Yang cooed before getting a pillow to the face.

"Shut up. I didn't get to take my friends with me to school, it's weird not knowing anyone here."

Simon let off a stream of comical tears and lowered his head. "It's like I don't even exist."

Ruby rolled her eyes at her friend. "You know what I mean." She said, still irritated.

"What about Jaune?" Yang pointed out. "He's… nice. There you go, plus one friend, that's a hundred percent increase."

"I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to zero."

"Negative friend?" Simon said after recovering from his small emotional scene. "Ruby, there's no such thing. As of now, you've made one friend and one enemy." Simon raised a fist into the air. "The highschool dream, sister." He pointed out, before also receiving a pillow to the face.

Yang snickered at the boy's slight misfortune before turning back to her sister. "Look, it's only been a day. Trust me, you've got friends all around you, you just haven't met them yet."

Ruby was pondering on their words when her ears caught the sound of candles being lit. she looked aroind and found a familiar raven haired girl reading a book by candlelight.

"That girl…" Ruby started.

Yang noticed Ruby looking at the girl in question. "You know her?"

"Not really, she saw what happened this morning but left before I could say anything." Ruby replied.

Simon looked at Yang and noticed a look of mischief in her eyes. "Uh oh." He muttered.

"Well, now's your chance." Yang said as she got up and dragged her sister to the mystery girl, despite the young reaper's objections. As she did, the bookworm heard the noise that they were making and looked over the book to see the sisters making their way over.

"Hellooooo" Yang sang as she walked over with her sister in tow. "I believe you two may know each other."

Blake looked at Ruby with a perplexed expression. "Aren't you… the girl that exploded?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah. My name's Ruby." Ruby answered while holding out her hand, which the girl ignored. "But you can call me crater… actually you can just call me Ruby."

The girl still paid no heed to the sisters as she was currently engrossed in her book. Yang looked over at her sister. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know, help me." Ruby replied.

Yang quickly looked back at the girl and smiled. "So… what's your name?"

"… Blake." She replied.

"Well, Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister." She started. "I like your bow."

"Thanks." Blake replied.

"It goes great with your… pajamas."

"Right…"

Simon had been watching the whole thing, and he was cringing at how the conversation was crashing and burning.

Yang and Ruby looked back at each other nervously before Yang spoke again. "So… nice night, huh?"

Blake was starting to get fed up with this. "Yes, it's lovely, almost as lovely as this book, which I will continue to read as soon as you leave." She said sternly.

At this, Yang sighed. "Yeah, this girl's a lost cause."

"What's it about?" Ruby asked Blake.

This apparently caught the ravenette by surprise, looking up at Ruby with a look of confusion. "Huh?"

"Your book." Ruby clarified. "Does it have a name?"

Still taken aback slightly, she answered. "Well… i-it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

"Oh yeah, that… real lovely." Yang said, now completely lost.

Ruby took a small step forward. "I love books. Yang use to read to me every night before bed, and I friend Simon would read some fairy tales to be during the day when I was little. Stories of heroes and monsters. They're one of the reasons I want to be a huntress."

"And why is that? Are you hoping you'll live happily ever after?" Blake asked.

"I'm hoping we all will." Ruby admitted. "As I girl, all wanted was to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone that fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

Blake lowered her book, genuinely impressed with the young reaper. "That's… very ambitious." Her face then faltered as she thought of all the problems going on in the world. "Unfortunately the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

Ruby grinned. "Well, that's why we're here. To make it better."

"Oh, I'm so proud of my baby sister." Yang said, including herself in the conversation and pulling her sister into a big hug.

"Ugh, cut it out, Yang!" Ruby exclaimed and tried to pull herself from her sister's grasp, only to end up fighting.

Blake, having been further impressed with the girl's optimism, something she hadn't seen in a long time. "Ruby, Yang… it's been a pleasure, but-"

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" came the voice of the Schnee Heiress, interrupting Yang and Ruby's fight. "Don't you realise that some of us are trying to sleep?" her features then turned to that of shock when she recognised the sisters.

"OH NO, NOT YOU AGAIN!" both Yang and Weiss screamed at each other.

"Shhh, guys, she's right, people are trying to sleep." Ruby said, now conscous of the Heiress' words.

Blake continued to watch the girls fight for a few more seconds before deciding that she had enough, taking the candle she lit and blew it out.

Simon couldn't help but smile over what had happened. It was… a cringe-worthy process to say the least, but at least Ruby managed to make another ally. Stretching his muscles, he pulled out a small light, attached it to the front cover of a comic book and proceeded to read the comic until fatigue took over and he fell into a deep sleep.

…..

The next morning, Simon had woken up earlier than the rest of the students. Seeing how it was five a clock in the morning, he tried to get back to sleep. In the end, however, he wasn't able to get back to sleep. So, instead, he decided to get up and get ready for the initiation later today.

After finding the locker rooms, he got dressed in a new set of attire. His choice of clothing was a black, combat shirt that had the same cross symbol on both of the shoulders, a pair of grey slacks, a dark brown belt, a royal blue jacket that was made of hardened leather, black combat boots and a clip on the side of his slacks for his whip.

When he was finished, having remembered to attach the whip to the clip, he made his way over to the cafeteria, where he was surprised to see trays filled to the brim with different types of foods. Simon's eyes instinctively turned towards the waffles, by far his favorite breakfast treat. He took the liberty of collecting a few, followed by bacon, eggs and toast.

He ate the food in silence. He was halfway through the food when he heard footsteps. He looked towards the door of the cafeteria, only to see Cecile entering the room. He saw that she was dressed in the same gear she arrived in beacon in. her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Simon eating, though a part of her was a little worried when she saw him eating alone.

"You okay?" she asked.

Simon nodded in response. He took a bite out of a piece of bacon before speaking. "Yeah. Woke up early, so I decided to prepare."

Cecile looked down at the plate and couldn't help but giggle. "And you think stuffing your stomach with that level of sugar in your stomach?"

Simon shrugged his shoulders. He slid the plate over to her. "Want one?"

"Do you have to ask?" she said in response. Taking a waffle, she nibbled on it lightly.

Simon took another waffle and took a large bite out of it. He noticed how his friend was eating hers, recognizing how she ate like that when she was nervous.

"Not that hungry?" he asked.

Cecile stopped nibbling and looked at him for a second, that is before she lowered her head, along with her ears dropping. "To be honest, I'm not looking forward to the initiation." She admitted. "I'm afraid of what we might have to face. I mean, I've fought Grimm before yeah, but-"

"Okay, I'm going to stop you there." Simon suddenly said.

Cecile looked at Simon with sudden surprise. The Whipmaster consumed the rest of his food in one bite, filling him up instantly, before he stood up and motioned for her to do the same. She slowly got onto her feet and stood a few feet away from Simon. She looked at her friend with slight confusion.

"Uh, Simon? What are you-"

Before she could say any more, Simon dashed towards her and aimed for her head with his elbow. Seeing this, Cecile raised her own elbow, blocking his attack, followed by a counter consisting of a knee headed towards Simon's side. Simon back-stepped quickly enough to avoid the attack, then threw a round-house kick towards her head. Cecile ducked down and shot out a foot towards the one leg that Simon was standing on.

This time, Cecile landed a hit, knocking Simon off balance and causing him to fall down towards the ground. However, before he hit the floor, Simon landed on his hands and spun himself so efficiently it would've put any break dancer to shame. He tilted himself so that he feet could aim for Cecile, who narrowly missed the unorthodox attack.

Simon launched off his hands with enough force to hit the ceiling with his feet. Allowing himself to fall back down, saw the fox Faunus readying for another attack. Taking the opportunity, he concentrated his aura to his forearms and shins. Upon landing, Cecile shot forwards and began attacking him with a flurry of punches and kicks that would've sent any other person into hospital for weeks. Thanks to Simon's surprising reflexes and concentrated aura, he was able to block the attacks.

After one final punched that was aimed for Simon's head, Cecile was shocked to see that Simon easily caught the fist with is hand. The force was strong enough to create a mild shockwave made all the tables push back a little. Surprisingly, despite not having coated his hand in aura, Simon could take the hit.

"… Damn it." Cecile complained, pulling back her fist and sitting on one of the tables, cursing herself in her own mind.

"On the contrary." Simon started, a small smirk forming on his face. "You've improved since we last fought. Last time we did, you needed your boomerangs to fend for yourself." He said, taking a seat beside his friend.

Cecile's ears perked up from surprise. She looked back towards Simon "Really? You think I'm getting better."

"Think it? I know it." Simon said. "So much so, in fact that you don't need to worry about the initiation. You are going to show up everyone there." He said.

Cecile had a blank expression on her face for a second, before it slowly morphed into a look of gratitude.

"Thank you, Simon." She said.

Simon nodded in return before getting out of his seat. "Right, I'm heading over to the locker room. I want to see how Ruby and Yang are doing."

"How do you think they're going to do?" Cecile asked.

"Ruby will do fine, Yang…" Simon was silent for a moment as he thought about how Yang might do during the initiation. "… I think that Tai's going to get a lot of complaints from that Goodwitch woman after today."

Cecile couldn't hold in a snort that escaped from her mouth. Simon let out a small chuckle. With that, they both made their way over to the locker rooms, leaving behind a pair of surprised-looking cooks behind the food.

….

Upon entering the locker room, the first thing that Simon and Cecile noticed was an orange haired girl talking to a boy around their age with rapid-fire speech. He didn't seem to mind, however.

"We should use some kind of signal, like a distress signal! A secret signal! So that we can find each other in the forest. Can you do a sloth?" the girl said without taking a break for breath.

"Nora." the boy finally spoke.

The girl now known as Nora zipped right beside him. "Yes Ren?"

Picking up a pair of green pistols that had blades sticking out from beneath the end of the barrel and then hiding them under his sleeves, Ren said "I don't think sloths make a lot of noise."

Nora was silent for a moment, thinking about what Ren said. "… That's why it's PERFECT! No one will suspect we're working together!"

Ren shook his head at his friend's energy and excitement. "Come on, Nora. Let's go."

With that, the two walked off. Cecile smiled as he saw how well they were getting along, hoping that she can do just as well with everyone else. Simon, on the other hand, looked quite bewildered about something.

"Why would they need to work on a secret plan together? Is there something going on today in the initiation that we didn't know about?" he asked Cecile.

"It might have something to do with the team forming." Cecile answered.

At that, Simon mouthed the word 'oh', as he remembered that students are required to form teams for their time here. He assumed that students would be allowed to form their own teams, but now he wasn't so sure.

He looked around and saw Ruby and Yang getting ready for the initiation. He looked back to Cecile and told her that he would talk to her later, leaving her to get herself ready for the initiation. When Simon reached the two, Simon clapped his hands together, making the two girls jump and turn towards the boy.

"JEEZ, SIMON!" Yang yelled with fright.

Simon chuckled slightly. "Sorry, Yang, couldn't help myself." He said. His response was Yang rolling her eyes in annoyance and a small laugh from Ruby. He looked towards the latter with a quirked eyebrow. "Someone's awfully chipper this morning." He noted.

Ruby went back into her locker and pulled out her weapon. "Yep, no more awkward small talk or 'getting to know you' stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." She said before cooing at her weapon for some reason. Granted, Simon knew that she was a true fanatic when it came to weapons, but it was still strange for him to see.

"Well remember, Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you want to grow up, you're going to have to learn how to meet new people and learn how to work together." Yang pointed out.

"Ugh, you sound just like dad." Ruby groaned. Laying down her scythe for a second, she turned to face Yang. "Okay, first of all, what does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And second of all, I don't need people to help me grow up. I. drink. Milk." She said, folding her arms and looking rather proud of herself when saying the last part.

"I'd have thought that all the cookies you ate would've counteracted that." Simon said, doing his best to hold back a laugh as he saw Ruby now looking at him with a pout on her face.

"Well what about when we form teams?" Yang asked.

Simon nodded in agreement. "She's got a point, we'll be pairing up with people we've never heard met before. Think your milk will help you there?"

At that, Ruby started to look a little nervous. "Oh, um… I-I don't know… I'll just join up with either one of your teams."

Simon noticed a change in Yang's expression as she started playing with her hair. Simon took the liberty of voicing her thoughts. "Look, Ruby. Yang and I both think that you should try to be on a team with someone else."

At this, Ruby looked at the two elder teens with an accusing glare. "My dearest sister Yang and life-long friend Simon, are you implying that neither of you want to be on a team with me!" she exclaimed.

At this point, Yang looked even more nervous. Saving her the trouble again, Simon said "On the contrary, you'd be the best choice for any team, you're that good. But you need to break out of your shell."

"I don't need to break out of my shell!" Ruby said, surprised by Simon's words. "That is absolutely-"

"Ridiculous!" cried Jaune from behind them. Simon, Ruby and Yang to see him walking around the room with a piece of paper in hand. "There's no way I put my gear in locker 363 yesterday! I would've remembered how to count that high! Ohhh why did this have to happen today?"

Simon looked at Jaune with a mix of sympathy and disbelief. "How the heck did he get in here?"

"WHAT!? HOW DARE YOU!"

Simon widened his eyes and Ruby jumped into Yang's arms after hearing the sound of Weiss screaming again.

"What did I do this time?" Ruby whined.

"I don't think it was you she's upset with Ruby." Simon said. He then had a pensive look on his face. "Although, with her attitude, just about anyone can cheese her off."

Deciding to investigate, he went over to where Weiss was screaming, to find the girl with Spartan armor holding back the Schnee Heiress. On the other side was a young man with spikey, platinum-blond hair, brown eyes and wore only a sleeveless, leather jacket with tons of flame patterns coating it that was unzipped opened, revealing a bare, muscular torso, as well as a pair of tracksuit bottoms and sandals.

He was being held back by a young woman with long, silver hair, eyes that were amethyst eyes that didn't have any pupils, wearing a white long coat that had a collar that hid her face as high as her mouth, a purple t-shirt underneath, black denim jeans and steel-capped combat boots. She wasn't facing the angered boy, but she was easily holding him back by hooking her index finger underneath the collar of his jacket.

"DON'T THINK THAT BECAUSE YOU'RE RICH YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, YOU BI-"

"Language." The passive girl said.

"No one gets away with talking to me like that!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Whatever started this, I'm glad to have gotten front row seats." Simon said out loud, catching their attention, the Ice Queen's face growing consideringly paler upon seeing him.

"But, I'm not one to let violence go on. So, what happened?"

The passive girl spoke. "Hot-head lashed out. Hates Schnee Dust Company."

"DON'T THINK I DON'T KNOW ABOUT HOW YOU-" the platinum-blond started.

"Okay, okay, time out." Simon said while making the 'T' sign with his arms. He stood between the two sides and looked at the angered male with an assertive glare. "If you're talking about the controversial labor rumors, for starters do you have proof of them actually happening?"

The male paused as he thought about the question, remembering that he only had the rumors to work on. "Well, I…"

"While I admire that you care about people's safety and rights, don't go lashing out at people based on rumors." Simon stated. He then eyed the heiress quickly before going right up to the male's ear and whispering. " _Besides… this is a place where we're supposed to get along. If the rumors are true, take this as an opportunity to show her the right way to do things. Be the better person_."

Slowly backing away from the angered male, Simon watched as he started to relax. The passive woman noticed this as well, despite not looking in their direction anymore. She released her light hold on him. Looking back at the Schnee Heiress, he took in a deep breath and held out his hand.

"Alright. I was in the wrong. I'm sorry." He said, while reluctant, he saw that he wouldn't get anywhere with violence.

Weiss was silent for a moment, before asking the Armour girl to release her. She looked back at the male and shook his hand politely. "Apology accepted." She said. However, Simon noticed a slight malice in her tone. Admittedly worried, he wouldn't say anything as if could only make things worse from here. The 'Hot-Head', as the silver girl called him, as well as said girl, left the locker room. Simon looked back at Weiss and the Spartan with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm guessing we're in for an odd year." Simon quipped.

"I don't think you'd be wrong." The Spartan admitted.

Simon let off a small chuckle. He turned around to see if the mysterious couple were still there when he accidentally bumped into Jaune, who was still looking for his gear.

"Ow. Oh, sorry, Simon." Jaune said while rubbing his shoulder, having been told about Simon by Ruby on their way to the auditorium yesterday.

"No prob. Still looking for your gear, huh?" Simon asked, to which Jaune nodded solemnly. Simon grinned slightly as he came up with an idea to cheer him up. "Well, to take your mind off things for a second, you should know we're in the presence of a celebrity." Simon continued as he motioned towards Pyrrha.

"I know, I've met Weiss before." Jaune said.

"… Actually I was talking about Pyrrha." Simon said with a surprised look on his face.

"Hello." Pyrrha said with a wave.

"Uh, nice to meet you." Jaune replied.

Weiss looked at the blond boy with a expression of disbelief. "You dunce. Have you never heard of Pyrrha Nikos?" she asked.

"Nope." Jaune replied.

"She won Mistal's Region Tournament four times in a row." Simon explained.

"A what?" Jaune asked again.

Simon had to work hard not to laugh at Jaune's ignorance, but mostly from the apparent swelling anger in the Heiress' face now present in her tomato-red face.

"SHE'S ON THE BOX FOR EVERY PUMPKIN PETE CEREAL BOX!" she roared.

At this, Jaune slapped the sides of his face and gasped with amazement. "No way, that's you!? They only do that for super star athletes and cartoon characters." He stated.

Pyrrha blushed slightly. "Yeah. The photoshoot was really fun. Sadly the cereal isn't very good for you." She stated.

"Uh, don't I know it." Simon held his hand over his stomach as he remembered the rueful day when he challenged Ruby to a contest to see who could eat the most of the cereal in under an hour. Both contestants were sick for a week after that.

He brought himself back to reality and smiled, giving the group a thumbs up. Well, I'm heading out. Good luck, everyone." He said before he ran out.

"Good luck to you too!" Pyrrha replied. She caught sight of Jaune , who looked quite nervous. She went over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded to him assuringly. "You'll be fine." She said. She then pointed towards a certain locker. "By the way, I think your gear is in there." She said.

Jaune's eyes sparkled and he pulled the champion into a hug. "THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" he said before he sprinted towards the locker. Pyrrha blushed lightly and held her hands together.

"This might be an interesting year." She said to herself.

…

As of now, all the new recruits were standing on a Cliff side that towered over the Emerald Forest, where the examination would be taking place. They were all making some last minute adjustments to their gear, except for Simon who just required the whip, and Jaune, who looked too nervous to focus on his weapons.

Simon looked down along the row of people and caught sight of Ruby and Yang. He gave them a thumbs up, to which they responded in kind.

Ozpin stood before the group of students and commenced with the explanation of what the initiation would entail.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Professor Goodwitch took over from there. "Now I'm sure that many of you have heard rumours about assignment of teams. Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… today."

"Oh." Ruby whispered in worry.

Ozpin began speaking again. "Your teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired up with someone with whom who can work well."

"Fair enough." Simon muttered.

"That begin said." Ozpin continued. "The first person you make eye-contact with after landing will be your partner… for the next four years.

And like that, Ruby's world was shattered. "WHAT!?"

Ozpin ignored the young reaper's reaction as he continued with the explanation. "After you've landed in the Emerald Forest, make your way over to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your path… or you will die."

"Awesome!" came the voice of the platinum-blond.

"Acceptable." Came the passive girl's voice.

As the students absorbed the information, Ozpin continued continued to speak. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. Our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and your grade appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Jaune raised his hand. "Uh, yes sir, I have a quest-"

"Good." Ozpin said, ignoring Jaune. "Now, take your positions."

With that, all the students walked over to metallic platforms. A second later, one of the students was launched off of platform. The process continued one by one, each student being send flying through the air.

Simon saw that he was next. Readying himself, he waited for his opportunity to be launched through the air. As he did, however, he looked back over at Jaune.

"Hey, Jaune! Didn't you have a question?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah." Jaune said. "Professor? When we're going into the forest, will you be dropping us in or…?"

"No. You will be falling." Ozpin answered.

Simon, was then launched off of his platform, followed by Yang.

"Right, so… uh, will we be getting parachutes or something?" he asked, not taking much notice of the students being flung into the air.

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy." Ozpin answered again.

"Good luck, Jaune." Ruby said just beifre she was sent flying through the air.

Jaune gulped. "Oh, right. Just one more question. What is a landing strateegyYYYYY-HEHE-HEEEEE…" Jaune was sent flying through the air before he could properly finish, now screaming his head off as he soared through the air.

As the students were now soaring through the air, he looked on, apparently lost in thought as they were making their way into one of the most dangerous areas in Vale.

…..

Simon eyed the forest as he was flying through the air. As he did, he heard the sound of Jaune screaming, now hoping that the guy had what it took to make it through the initiation.

" _Well, even if he may not be that good starting out, he'll get better. Heck, I had to teach myself to fight, so…_ " Simon's train of thought was broken when something caught his eye. " _What the hell?_ "

For some reason, his falling speed was greatly reduced, the air and landscape began to shimmer, distort and lose its colour, fading into a more grey-like appearance. Before he could question what was going on, his vision was completely obscured in white.

A few seconds later, he found himself coming in contact with a cobble-stone ground. Reacting quickly, he spun around, coated his feet in his aura and landed on his feet, protecting himself from the force of the landing and shattering the ground beneath him.

He raised his head and looked around. When he did, however, he was shocked to see what was in front of him. He was now staring into a dark, cloudy night sky, standing on a large stone balcony. He walked over to the edge, looking over to see what looked like a large, stone structure, designed with a large level of Gothic architecture. Simon couldn't help but think that Ruby would love this.

"Just… where the hell am I?" Simon asked out loud.

He took a few breaths before he looked around, seeing that he was definitely in some sort of old structure. Possibly some kind of castle. As to how he got here, he didn't know what was going on. Either there was something causing him to be seeing things, or…

"Oh damn it." Simon said, a familiar, dark energy making itself known. He looked at the wall behind him and saw blood slowly running down the walls. Knowing what this meant, Simon called for the aura whip. He waited for a few seconds before realizing that the aura whip wasn't responding. His eyes widened as he looked down at his feet, seeing that the aura was quickly fading away. He tried to call it back, but it wouldn't respond.

"My aura… isn't working here?"

The blood that had reached ad pooled onto the stone floor began to vibrate. Seconds later, familiar small monsters, the same ones that Simon, Yang and Ruby fought at the mansion, followed by new creatures.

They looked humanoid, but their bodies looked like a combinations of armor and dense bone. Their heads looked like bats as their eyes glowed, horns were sticking out of their heads like bat hears and had fangs protruding from their mouths. Each of them all carried longswords made of a dark metal that seemed to give off a dark aura of their own, but nothing like Simon came across before.

Gritting his teeth, Simon grabbed his regular whip and cracked it open. "Looks like I'm on my own." He said.

With that, the creatures charged towards him, fully intending to tear him apart piece. By. Piece.

 **Right, I'm going to leave it at that for the time being. Bet no one expected to see an update on this story for a while, eh? I'd been planning to get back to this stoy for a while, plus I recently found some inspiration to get back to it. Hope you all liked it, I know I made a fair number of changes, but I thought I'd try and change things around slightly.**

 **Overall, what do you think? You like it? Hate it? Feel free to share your thoughts on the matter. See you later.**


	6. Initiation Pt 1

"Birdie NO!"

At the moment, the Beacon initiation has begun. After being launched into the air, something that some of the students thought may be some kind of prank that the Headmaster tried to pull to rile up the first years, all of the initiates were now soaring through the air, air resistance having little to no effect on them, which Ruby found out a little too late after accidentally crashing into a crow.

Ruby took out her Crescent Rose and activated its gun mode, firing off a few shots to slow down her velocity. When she was happy with the speed that she was falling, she unfolded her weapon into its scythe form and readied herself. When she was close enough, she hooked she scythe around a tree branch and spun around a few times before landing on the ground.

As this happened, all the other students had their own landing strategies. Weiss Schnee had decided to use her glyphs as jumping platforms so that she could land without having to suffer from the pain of landing at a high velocity. Lie Ren had used his weapon, the stormflower pistols, to hook onto a tree and spin around it, carving a spiral into the tree and landing safely, brushing off some sawdust he caught along the way.

Yang had taken a different approach. Instead on focusing on landing, she used her gauntlets to fire off powerful shots that enabled her to increase her velocity and fly father, helping to gain more distance in the process. Eventually, she decided to land, bouncing off several trees as jumping platforms before landing on the ground with a roll.

Pyrrha Nikos had her shield raised as she was approaching a cluster of trees. She bashed through them, using her shield to protect her from the impact, before spinning and landing on the branch of a different tree, morphing her weapon into a rifle as she looked through the scope, searching for any dangers.

However, instead, she found a familiar-looking boy with blond hair flailing through the air, screaming his head off. Seeing that he was in trouble, Pyrrha lowered her rifle and spun it in her hands, morphing the weapon into a spear. Taking careful aim, she waited until the moment was just right. Then, she threw the spear with as much force as she could muster, watching it fly through the air towards Jaune.

As the spear left her view, she heard a distinctive 'Thunk' that came from penetrating wood.

"Thank you." Came Jaune's voice.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha yelled back, worried she might have upset the Arc boy.

…..

Ruby was now running through the forest, her mind on what to her was a life or death matter.

" _Gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang, Gotta find Yang!_ " she kept repeating to herself mentally. "Yang! YAAAANG!" she screamed.

" _Oh, this is bad, this is really bad! What if I can't find her? What if someone else finds her first?_ " she then began to contemplate who would be a suitable partner. " _There's always Jaune. He's 's funny… I don't think he's very good in a fight though,"_

" _Oh! What about Blake!? So mysterious, so calm. Plus, she like's books… then again I don't think I'd be able to hold a conversation with her."_

" _Oh, of course! Simon! He would be awesome. We know each other, he's amazing at fighting, plus he could put up with me… but, knowing him, he probably found someone already. Once he's given a task he get's it done real quick. I still can't believe he helped reorganize the books in the library so quickly."_

Ruby shook her head as she tried to get back on track. _"Ah, focus! Okay, who else do I know in this school? There's Yang, Simon, Jaune, Blake and…"_

Ruby lost her train of thought when she noticed something in the distance. She came skidding to a halt. After she stopped, she raised her eyes and saw herself making eye contact with non other than the Schnee Heiress from before.

Weiss looked at Ruby with a look of disdain, while Ruby's face seemed to brighten with hope. However, that faded after Weiss turned around and walked away from Ruby with a scoff.

"Hey, wait, come back!" Ruby yelled at the distant Weiss. "We're supposed to be teammates."

Weiss continued to walk through the forest, hoping to find a better partner than the girl she already considered to be a dunce. As she did her best to avoid some of the foliage, her ears picked up on the sound of someone groaning. She looked up and saw a boy hanging from a tree, smiling weakly at her.

Instantly, Weiss turned back and saw Ruby, walking past her and grabbing her by the hood of her cloak.

"By no means does this make us friends." She said, reluctantly accepting Ruby as her partner.

"You came back!" an overjoyed Ruby yelled.

As they made their way, Jaune waved helplessly at at Ruby and Weiss as they walked off. "Hey, wait! Come back!" he yelled, but to no avail from them.

"Jaune?"

His concentration on Ruby and Weiss was broke, his head turning towards the source of the new voice. There, he saw Pyrrha looking up at him with a friendly smile.

"Looking for new members for your team?" she asked with a humorous tone.

Jaune momentarily looked away from her and folded his arms. "Very funny." He said sarcastically. However, he looked back at her with a friendly and grateful smile. If anyone had seen then, they could tell that those two would get along just fine.

….

The air was still in the dark, gloomy castle. It would be obvious to anyone who would see it that there hasn't been any sort of presence, save for the spiders that have formed several cobwebs in the upper corners of the roofs, and on the rusted sets of armor which housed old skin and brittle bone.

However, this silence was brought to an end when someone ran through the area.

Simon found that he was in a bit of trouble. Not only was he not able to use his aura, which meant he couldn't use his only weapon capable of actually hurting these beings, but these monsters were also seemed to be increasing in number, more than enough to outmatch Simon.

Eventually, he had been forced into retreat, knowing full well that he wouldn't last long in a head-on fight.

Simon gritted his teeth as he ran, cursing his luck. "The minute I get out of here I'm finding that vampire and I'm gonna knock some answers out of him!" he said out loud.

He came to a halt after reaching the end of the hallway, seeing two ways to go. One to his left, and the other to his right. He didn't know which would be the best way to go, and he knew that the bat-like creatures wouldn't be too long in catching up to him.

So, he decided to take a different approach. He looked up and, while mustering up as much force as he could, leapt up onto the wall on his right, bounced off and clung onto the rafters of the ceiling. He may not have his aura, but he was still quite agile, which worked well in his favor.

He sat on the rafters in silence, waiting for the creatures to appear. Around a minute later, he could hear the sounds of low growls. Keeping silent, he saw the monsters running down the hall. Simon guessed that they were angry, due to their eyes lighting up bright red every time they screamed. When they reached the junction at the end of the fall, they broke into two groups, one went down the left hall, the other wet right.

Simon had watched them run off, a deadpanned expression present on his face. " _Doesn't_ anyone _think to look up?_ " he thought. With a sigh, he jumped down from the rafters, bending his knees as he landed. He looked around and raised an eyebrow. " _Seriously, Ruby would love to see this place._ "

Deciding it was safe to speak now, Simon stretched his shoulders and began walking. "I guess a little recon wouldn't hurt. If I'm gonna get out of here I'll n-"

"Stop!"

Simon froze like a statue to the sound of the new voice. taking out his whip, he spun around to see who it was who was speaking to him. After seeing him, Simon's mouth slightly opened in surprise and shock. The person standing before him was a man with silver hair, ember eyes and deathly pale skin, like the vampire Simon fought before. Simon guessed that he was one as well.

The new face also wore a long, blue coat that had several armor attachments to it, gothic style gauntlets and greaves, and he was holding a sword that seemed as this as a longsword, but was much longer and was curved like a katana. Simon couldn't help but think the weapon was magnificent.

Pointing the tip of the weapon at Simon, he glared at him, his ember eyes seeming to glow as he did so. "Who are you? How did you get into the castle?"

Simon was silent for a few second. He broke it by slowly clipping his whip back by his side and holding his hands up in surrender. "Well, since you asked so nicely…" Simon started, the sarcasm causing the vampire before him to grin slightly. "My name is Simon Wolfe. And, as to how I got here… I haven't got a clue."

The vampire narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "There are very view who could enter this castle from the outside, the only ones capable being Dracula and those connected to him." He said to Simon.

"… Just making sure. Dracula, brown hair, red eyes, red coat with yellow designs?" Simon asked while motioning his hands.

The vampire nodded his head. At that, Simon began to pout. "Aw man, that guy must've done something after I fought him."

At that, the vampire looked at Simon in confusion. "You fought him? Impossible, he…" the vampire paused for a brief moment, trying to make sense of what Simon said. Eventually, he said "Did you release him?"

Simon nodded his head. "Yep… was that a bad thing?"

The vampire lowered his weapon and proceeded to sheath it, even though he didn't have a sheath. As it happens, he didn't need one, for the weapon slowly dispelled as the vampire motioned the weapon, eventually disappearing altogether.

"That remains to be seen." The vampire said.

Simon looked back and forth between where he saw the weapon disappear and the vampire's face. Admittedly, it was a little unusual for him to see. However, he shook it off and spoke again. "So, um… mind if I ask what your name is?"

The vampire nodded in acknowledgement. "You may call me… Alucard."

….

"Take… THIS!"

Cecile was doing remarkably well. To land, she hooked onto several strong branched with her boomerangs and allowed herself to swing from branch to branch using the momentum from the fall. After landing with a roll, she ran towards where the relics were said to be.

Hoping to find a partner on her way over, she was instead met with a group of Beowolves. At first, the girl was a bit intimidated, as the beasts' loud roars sounded both louder and scarier due to her enhanced hearing. However, she quickly got over the initial scare and readied her weapons.

These boomerangs were slightly different compared to regular ones. These were noticeably larger, with a bat situated in the middle, attached to the inner sides of the arms, allowing her to hold the weapon without holding the arms. This was important because the arms were razor sharp and were serrated, which could lead to her losing a few fingers.

Thankfully, when she went to fight the Grimm, they proved to be more than effective. She could hold on by the handle and use the boomerangs as effective melee weapons, while also effectively throwing them at distant targets, to which were felled in seconds.

Cecile had spent around five minutes fighting Beowolves; it would've been shorter, but more had appeared to aid their brethren. Eventually, Cecile manged to finish the final one off by throwing one of the boomerangs through the creatures stomach, only for said boomerang o spin back and decapitate the creature. Cecile caught the weapon with ease.

She looked around, seeing her attacker slowly fading away. "Oh yeah. I got this." She noted.

She was about to move on when she heard another loud roar from behind some bushes. She turned and, much to her surprise, saw that an Ursa had burst through the foliage.

Deciding not to back down, Cecile readied her weapons once more. "C'mon, grizzly." She said calmly.

The creature was about to move, intending to tear the fox Faunus to shreds. However, this was stopped by the sound of the air being slashed, followed by pained wails from the Ursa. It collapsed and started to fade. As it did, Cecile saw who had felled the creature.

"Uh, hey! What's up!?"

The calm girl from the locker room that held back the 'hot-head' jumped after hearing Cecile's voice. Cecile raised an eyebrow at that, as the girl was directly facing her. She didn't dwell on it, though. She walked up to her and held out a hand.

"Hey, nice to meet you. You're that girl from the locker room, right? My name's Cecile. What's yours?"

The girl slowly took Cecile's hand and shook it lightly, although her grip was like that of a vice. Luckily, Cecile didn't mind.

"My name is Talia. It's nice to meet you Cecile." She said.

"Likewise." Cecile said. "So, I guess this means we're partners now, huh?" she asked. "… uh… mind if I ask how you took out that Ursa?"

Talia answered by unsheathing a blade that, on one end, looked like a katana blade, but on the pommel of the surprisingly long handle was a dagger.

"My weapon. The Cold Thorn." She answered.

Cecile took a moment to look at the weapon. "Wow. It's pretty cool." She said.

"Thank you." Talia replied, resheathing the weapon. "If you wish to see it, we can go look for more Grimm along the way."

At that, Cecile laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head. "Uh, I'd rather avoid fighting when we can. Best not to waste energy, y'know?"

Talia nodded. "Sounds fair. To the temple then?"

At that, Cecile nodded and shot a fist into the air. "Awesome! Let's go!"

….

"You're kidding me, right?"

Back in the Castle, Alucard and Simon were running through the castle, hoping to find an exit to help Simon return to his world. However, that was proving to be difficult, as more of the castle's minion were making themselves known and searching for the two. As such, the two were forced to rely on stealth.

Once again hiding in the rafters of the ceiling, Simon was looking at Alucard in disbelief. "You're saying that there are monsters that are the size of that flippin' chamber we passed? Dude, that place was HUGE!"

Alucard looked over towards Simon with a slight smirk on his face. "I said _at least_ the size of that chamber. If we're lucky, we won't come across any."

"… Great…" Simon said sarcastically, only working in making the vampire chuckle.

When they were sure that the coast was clear, the two jumped down from the rafters and ran for the next location. As they ran, Simon became curious about something.

"Hey, Alucard. If you don't mind me asking, how did you get in here?" he asked.

"Before Dracula was sealed, the blood of the castle summoned a creature it had corrupted, making it ingest the blood and made it stronger, at the cost of what little sanity it had left."

At that, Simon widened his eyes, remembering how the blood had done the same thing to Torchwick's henchmen not too long ago.

"I was caught off guard, and it managed to pull me in. Before I could escape, it seemed, Dracula was impaled with the Vampire Killer, supressing the blood and should've ended my father… however, he was only put into a long sleep."

Simon smirked. "Well, at least you've a chance of escaping now." he said.

Alucard nodded. "Quite." He said. looking over at Simon, he asked. "How did you come to find Dracula?"

"I heard about the Vampire Killer through rumors and myths, hoping it would give me inspiration to help me come up with an upgrade for my whip." He said, slapping the weapon. "Came across an old mansion, where it turns out Dracula was buried, and I pulled it out. After that, that blood came to life and tried to kill me and my friends."

"Your friends?" Alucard asked with curiosity.

"Ruby and Yang. I've known them for as long as I could remember. After the blood was released, I deeply regretted pulling out that artefact." as he spoke, his features seemed to shape into a look of regret, but he quickly shook it off. "Guess it was a blessing in disguise that Dracula possessed me."

At that, Alucard stopped. Simon came to a halt shortly after. Hearing that Alucard was no longer running. He looked back and saw said vampire looking at him with a stern expression.

"He possessed you?" he asked.

Simon nodded. "He used his powers through me. After he left me and after Me and my friends escaped, I found I was able to copy the power he used when he possessed me, since i got a feel for how the weapon works. A gauntlet that could form a whip."

"The shadow whip." Alucard stated. "That's why the blood has been targeting you."

"Uh, what?" Simon asked, now slightly confused.

Alucard, seeing Simon's confusion, explained. "The blood believes you to be Dracula. Either that, or after he possessed you, they believe you to hold some sort of connection with him." Alucard stated. He then pointed towards Simon's hand. "The fact that you are able to use a copy of his weapon would only cement their suspicion."

At that, Simon put one hand on his hip while he nervously scratched his chin with the other. "Well, that's a bit of a bother." He said. He looked back at Alucard. "Anyway to undo it?"

"The only way to stop this is to find the source of the blood and destroy it." Alucard stated with a light grim tone.

"I take it that that's an 'easier said than done' scenario." Simon said.

At that, Alucard nodded. Seeing Simon's slight worry, Alucard walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You needn't worry. Once we find a way out, it will become more manageable." He said, trying to reassure the boy.

Simon stayed silent for a moment. He then looked up at Alucard with a look of curiosity. "How _can_ we destroy the source?"

"There is only one being in existence that can accomplish that goal." Alucard stated. "And, thanks to you and your friends, he has a chance of finishing the job once and for all."

…

"And that's another pair formed."

Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin both stood at the edge of the cliff, monitoring how the students are progressing during the initiation. At the moment, they have seen two ore students become partners.

"Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie." She said, before saying with a disheartening tone. "Poor boy. I can't possibly imagine the two of them getting along."

Ozpin smirked, knowing that they be better suited than she thought, as they had known each other since they were children. His face became blank once more as he recalled what had brought the two together in the first place.

"Still… he seems to be fairing much better than Miss Nikos." Goodwitch commented, seeing footage of Pyrrha pushing back a branch, only for Jaune to get hit in the face by the same branch, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground. "I don't care what the transcripts said, that boy is not ready for this level of combat."

"That is an understatement."

Ozpin didn't flinch, but he recognized the voice of the ancient vampire. Grinning, he said "I take it you have little hope for the boy."

Gabriel walked up to the edge of the cliff, near enough to Goodwitch, who seemed to have paled a bit after seeing the vampire. "That isn't for me to decide." He said. "Besides… you have rarely been wrong before… aside from one-"

"Let's… not talk about that for now." Ozpin interrupted, knowing what Gabriel was about to talk about. He always found it annoying how quick the vampire could find sensitive information so quickly.

Glynda didn't pay any heed to either of the men, primarily because of her distrust in the being standing beside Ozpin. Instead, she focused on monitoring the initiates. She flicked through the different cameras, checking to see how they were doing. however, there was one unusual thing she noticed.

"Strange. I can't seem to find Mr. Wolfe anywhere in the forest." She said, continuing to flick through the cameras.

At that, Gabriel smiled a toothy grin, revealing his fangs. "Ah… yes. Thank you for the reminder."

Ozpin looked over at Gabriel with a look of curiosity. "A reminder for what?"

Gabriel looked over at Ozpin, a slight jolt of humor flowing through him as he was about to tell the professors what had happened to the boy.

…

"It's definitely this way… I mean, this way."

At the moment, Ruby was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, looking bored out of her mind, while Weiss was walking back and forth, trying to figure out where they were going.

"Alright, it's official. We passed it." Weiss stated.

Ruby got up onto her feet and sighed. "Why can't you just admit that you have no idea where we're going?"

"Because I know exactly where we're going." Weiss stated with a less than believable tone. "We're going… to… the forest temple!"

"Ugh." Ruby grunted in annoyance.

Seeing this, Weiss frowned at Ruby. "Oh stop. You don't know where we're going either." She defended.

"Well at least I'm not pretending that I know everything!" Ruby exclaimed back.

"What is THAT suppose to mean!?" Weiss yelled, now quite annoyed with Ruby.

"It means that you're a … big, stupid jerk and I hate you!" Ruby yelled at Weiss, only for the Schnee Heiress to sigh at the young reaper in response.

"Just keep moving." Weiss said.

"Oh, just keep moving, hurry up, wha-wha." Ruby said back, impersonating what she believed Weiss to be like. "Why do you have to be so BOSSY!?"

"I am NOT bossy!" Weiss roared back.

"Well then stop treating me like a kid!"

"Stop acting like a kid!"

"Well… stop trying to act like your perfect!"

"I am NOT PERFECT" Weiss finally had enough. "Not yet. But I'm still leagues better than you. You and that rude, pathetic boy you know." She said, referring to Simon in that last part.

At that, Ruby felt a surge of hurt flow through her. It was bad enough that this girl said something mean to her, but it was even more painful for Ruby that Weiss was insulting her friend behind his back. To Ruby, nothing hurt worse than when someone would be mean to her friends.

"… You don't even know us." She managed to say, trying her best to hold back the tears building up in her eyes.

…

Simon suddenly stopped walking.

He and Alucard were walking along a dark corridor that was only lit by weak, blue flames. Alucard had been leading them to where Simon would be able to make his escape, provided that they didn't encounter any resistance along the way.

Surprisingly, however, there was no creature in sight. Even in the more open spaced areas, where the fights usually occurred, there had been nothing appearing before them. Admittedly, it was unusual for the vampire, but also a pleasant change. Not having to fight anything for moue than two minutes allowed him the extra rest he would never admit to anyone he needed.

Alucard came to a sudden halt as well, prompted when he realised that Simon had already stopped moving.

"Are you alright, Simon?" Alucard asked.

Simon didn't answer immediately, instead curling his hands into fist before speaking. "I… I don't know. I just... it felt like a cold shiver went down my back, or something. it's... worrying."

Seeing the look of concern in the boy's face, Alucard nodded. "Then let's move. The exit is down this ha-"

Alucard stopped talking, instead his eyes widening. Simon was a bit baffled by Alucard's expression at first. "Uh, Alucard? Are you… al…" It didn't take long for Simon to realize what was amiss, as he felt something… liquid-like surrounding his boots."

 _ **We have you now… my prince…**_

Simon looked down and saw the blood beneath his feet, causing him to leap away from the puddle and beside Alucard. He looked towards the vampire. "Any advice?" he asked.

"Run." Alucard stated before bolting towards their destination.

"I LIKE THAT ADVICE!" Simon yelled before bolting after Alucard. The Blood, however, didn't move.

 _ **Look what you are making us do!**_

As Simon and Alucard ran down the hall, bits and pieces from the ceiling and the walls fell and landed on the ground, slowly and gradually growing in size and becoming large pieces of debris.

"I'm surprised it took the blood this long to act!" Alucard yelled.

Simon grinned before speaking. "Maybe they wanted to trap us like cornered rats!" he stated.

"I wouldn't put it past them." Alucard said seriously.

A very large piece from the ceiling fell and landed on the ground. Alucard had managed to run past it before it landed, but Simon was still behind. However, fortune seemed to favor him at that time, as there was a gap in the bottom edge where the debris touched the ground. Using his momentum, he crouched down and slid through the gap, successfully escaping a gruesome end.

Simon and Alucard could see that they were coming close to another room, hopefully one with enough space for them to fight back. Before they did, however, More of the debris came down in front of the entrance, blocking it entirely.

Alucard gritted his teeth. "Damn it!" he roared. Seeing that they needed to act quickly, he summoned his sword and briskly turned the sword in his hand. The motion seemed to cover the blade in a coat of fire, which helped to further brighten the now darkening hallway. "We'll have to charge through!"

"Sound goo to m-"

Simon suddenly stopped speaking, as he suddenly heard a familiar voice sunning through his head.

 _I am NOT PERFECT. Not yet. But I'm still leagues better than you. You and that rude, pathetic boy you know_

Recognising the voice, Simon raised an eyebrow. " _Ouch, she really is the Ice Queen._ " He thought. " _I'd hate to be the poor sucker who-_ " Simon's train of thought was interrupted when he suddenly felt a sudden surge of emotion flow through him. It felt like he was wanting to cry.

 _You don't even know us_

A second voice ran through his head. As he did, with the hurt becoming stronger as Ruby's voice ran through his head, he realized that it was Ruby that was hurting.

And this served to awake Simon's buried anger.

"What did Weiss do?" he asked himself out loud.

Hearing this, Alucard turned towards Simon. "What are you talking about?"

Simon didn't answer, instead his hands were shaking from the anger, an anger that was swelling up inside of him as he kept running. He didn't know how, but he was able to feel the hurt Ruby was now enduring because of the Schnee Heiress. He didn't care how this was caused either. The only thing he knew right now was that he was angry. There was nothing he hated more than when there was somebody in pain, whether physical or emotional.

He was so consumed by his anger, he didn't notice that his right fist was suddenly coated with a familiar Black and red aura.

"We're getting OUT OF HERE!" Simon roared.

Grabbing onto Alucard's arm, Simon instinctively transferred his revived aura into his feet, and blasted towards the blocked entrance. Using his hand that was covered with the aura, he pulled back his fist before punching the debris, allowing him and Alucard to rocket through and make it out of the hallway.

Simon let go of Alucard's arm, allowing the vampire to land properly on his feet. Simon landed with a roll, raising his head to see the exit he had made. He then slowly turned his head towards Alucard with a sheepish look on his face.

"Um… my bad." He said.

Alucard looked at the hole for a moment before shaking his head. "No need to apologise. You ensured our survival with that stunt." He stated. He then looked back at Simon, more specifically, his right arm. "And it seems that you've acquired something from it as well."

At first, he didn't know what Alucard was talking about. That was, until he looked down and saw that his hand was coated in his aura.

He couldn't hold back a look of amazement, having believed that his aura wouldn't work here. "This is going to be very helpful." He said.

"I hope you are correct." Alucard stated.

Soon after he said that, small puddles of blood emerged from the ground. As they did, the vampiric soldiers from before shot out from the blood, their weapons drawn and looking hungry for blood.

Alucard extinguished the flames that were n his sword, preparing to end these sorry excuses for vampires. He looked over at Simon, who surprisingly, had the whip he had previously clipped to his side.

"I assumed that you would opted for the shadow whip." Alucard said, turning his head back towards the dishonored vampires.

Simon unwrapped the whip, cracking it on the ground before leering at the enemies before him. "Normally, yeah, but… I'm never gonna learn if I keep taking the easy route, huh?"

Alucard was still for a moment, initially surprised that he wouldn't be using all the abilities available to him. However, he didn't question his choice. Instead, he kept his focus on the monsters before them.

"Very well. Then show me what you can do."

…..

Back in the Emerald Forest, Yang and Blake, who had partnered up after Blake assisted Yang in defeating a couple of Ursai, had finally reached the forest temple. It was nothing more than a set of old ruins, left only for nature to take it over and return it to the soil.

Yang looked over towards Blake. "Think this is it?"

Blake didn't say anything. Instead, she decided to walk on over towards the ruins. Yang wasn't sure of what to make of Blake's silence, since she was more of a conversationalist. But, nonetheless, followed her down to the ruins, where they hoped to find what they were looking for.

When they were at the ruins, they saw the artifacts in question resting on separate pedestals.

"Chess pieces?" Blake questioned, surprised that this is what they were tasked to find. She had expected something… older, unique?

"Some of them are missing." Yang noted to Blake. "I guess we weren't the first ones here."

Blake scanned the several pieces before them. "Well, I guess we should pick one." She said.

Yang looked over the pieces herself, trying to decide which one to go for. Her eyes settled on the white knight piece, to which she held it up in the air.

"How about a cute little pony?" she asked Blake.

Blake smiled at how cute Yang was trying to act. "Sure." She replied.

Yang put the piece in her pocket before walking over to Blake. "Well, that was easy."

"Well it's not like this place is hard to find." Blake pointed out.

….

Meanwhile, Jaune and Pyrrha were after coming across a cave. Jaune was curious as to if whether or not this might be the way to the ruins.

"You think this is it?" he asked Pyrrha.

The Mistral champion shrugged her shoulders, unsure if whether or not it was the correct place. Deciding to check all the same, Jaune found a piece of wood and wrapeed some dried up plantlife on the top. He then tried to light the torch, which took around ten minutes since he had never done it before.

Pryyha couldn't help but smile at Jaune as he worked on the torch. There was definatley something about him that she couldn't help but love.

After Jaune had finally succeeded in lighting the torch, they made their way into the cave. The further they went in, Pyrrha became a little unsure about whether or not the tunnel was the best option.

"Uh, Jaune? I don't think this is it." she said to the boy.

"Pyrrha… I made the torch. Can you humor me for, I don't know, five more feet?" he asked. However, before they could even reach five feet, Jaune tripped on something, causing him to drop the torch into a puddle.

Now, in the dark, Jaune felt like an idiot for his blunder. Pyrrha didn't really care at the time, as there was something else on her mind.

"Wait. Can you feel that?" she asked.

"Soul-crushing regret?" Jaune asked, having that feeling going through him at the moment.

Pyrrha shook her head. "No. It's… warm."

Still unsure of what to expect, the two continued on through the tunnel, curious to see what the strange feeling Pyrrha was picking up was.

After a few more minutes of walking, they soon came face to face with a large, golden, glowing object hanging before them.

"That's the relic!" Jaune yelled in excitement. He reached out to grab the item when… it backed away from him. "Huh? Bad… relic." He said,trying again to reach for the object. Deciding he had enough, he leapt out and grabbed the object with his two hands.

Pyrrha looked on, realising what the object was. "Uh… Jaune?"

The object lifted Jaune into the air, bringing him closer to something. The object eventually brought him close enough to see a number of red, glowing eyes. It was then that Jaune realised that he was grabbing onto the stinger of a Deathstalker Grimm.

At that, Jaune let out an extremely loud, high-pitched scream that even reached Blake and Yang at the temple.

Yang widened her eyes with worry. "Blake. Did you hear that? Some girl's in trouble!"

Blake hadn't been focusing on what Yang was saying. Instead, her head was facing up towards the sky as she saw something… very strange.

Back at the cave, Pyrrha had ran back out the temple, while the Deathstalker was chasing after her. The Grimm destroyed the cave's entrance as it made its exit, with Jaune still grasping onto its tail.

"PYRRHA! IT'S NOT RELIC! IT'S NOT A RELIIIC!" Jaune sobbed as he feared for his life.

"Jaune, don't worry!" Pyrrha said to him, doing her best to help him. "Whatever you do, don't let-"

Before Pyrrha could finish, the Deathstalker flicked its tail, causing the poor Arc boy to fly away from the Deathstalker Grimm and far into the distance.

"… Go…" Pyrrha finished, a slight sense of irony going through her. She turned back to see the Deathstalker focusing on her, killer intent clearly present in the being. Not liking her chances against the creature, she nervously scratched the back of her head and smiled at the creature, before dashing over to where Jaune was flying.

….

Back at the castle, Both Alucard and Simon were fending off a group of dishonored vampires. Alucard seemed to be having no trouble on his end.

The blue-coated vampire used his blade, the Crissaegrim, while most certainly a deadly looking weapon, only proved and surpassed this belief when in the hands of Alucard. The vampire was swift and precise, not focusing as much on power or strength, unlike the beings before him.

At times, the blade of his weapon would glow blue, which seemed to cause the enemies he struck to wear out more quickly. Other times, say if there were vampires with shields, his blade would be coated in the same flame he planned to use to escape the collapsing tunnel, which helped him burst through enemy defenses.

Needless to say, he was quite the powerhouse.

Simon was holding up well, but not to the same standard as Alucard. These creatures proved to be much stronger than any Grimm he faced, as well as smarter. He was able to hurt the creatures, but there was more strain on his body as he put more force into his attacks.

One of the vampires appeared from a shadow behind him, thrusting its sword at Simon, thinking it could kill the boy. However, Simon saw this coming, and instead jumped into the air and flipped through the air, landing on the blade itself. Simon turned around, seeing the look of astonishment of the dishonored vampire's face, before jumping behind the vampire.

Simon had coiled up his whip, but left enough slack for what he had planed. He swung the coil downwards and pulled it back, catching the vampire's neck, looking like he was trying to strangle the vampire.

At this, the vampire laughed. " **Foolish human. We vampires are already dead! You canno-** "

The creature didn't get to finish what it was saying, as Simon pushed one foot against his head, and the other against his back. With enough force, Simon pulled back his weapon, messily decapitating the vampire.

Alucard cleaved a vampire in two, his vision seeing Simon in the gap he made in said vampire, and how Simon beheaded his opponent. Alucard couldn't help but smile. " _Quite creative, that child._ " He thought, soon returning to the fight when a pool of deceased vampire's blood revealed the reflection of more opponents.

"Any chance we can get out o the castle now!?" Simon asked, now evading two more dishonored vampires.

Alucard used the flame's fire to burst through the shield of another opponent before answering. "On the floor above us! Find a medallion with a wolf engraving!" he yelled.

Simon looked around and saw a ledge above them, leading, hopefully, to this medallion that Alucard spoke of. Running forward, he then leapt up into the air, using the face of one of the dishonoured vampires as a stepping stone to help him reach the ledge. When he was close enough, he reached out and grabbed the ledge, pulling himself up and looking back down to see if Alucard was alright.

" _Wow. That guy's tough._ " Simon couldn't help but think.

She shook his head, trying to get himself to focus again. He looked back and saw that there was a small hallway before him, leading to a set of iron doors. Grinning, Simon dashed towards the door. He activated his aura, followed by spinning himself around towards his left as he moved forward, trying to get enough momentum in.

In seconds, Simon used his enhanced fist to punch the doors, causing them to fly off their hinges and crash against the wall. He stood up straight and looked around to see what was inside. It was a hollow chamber, nothing except a small pedestal, on which rested a circular item. Simon walked over to it and, upon seeing the item up close, chuckled to himself lightly.

"That must be the medallion Alucard was talking about." He said, seeing the engraving of the wolf on it. he put the medallion in his pocket and turned to walk out the door. He stopped, however, when he heard the sound of liquid dripping onto the ground behind him. He looked behind him, seeing drops of crimson liquid landing on the ground.

Now slightly nervous, he looked up to see what the source of this was. When he did, his face paled and he he gave a nervous smile.

"Oh… hello." He said.

…

"Blake, do you…"

Yang had turned towards Blake, wanting to asked if they should check what the girlish scream was about. However, as she turned, she saw her partner looking up towards the sky, her place forming a look of surprise and confusion, while pointing up in the same direction.

Yang looked up, only to see a familiar young girl falling from the sky towards them.

"HEEEAADS UUUUUUUUUUUP!" Ruby cried as she flew towards them. One would be worried that she would be hurt from the fall, but instead, something came flying by from Ruby's side, colliding with her, causing them both to fly off into a group of trees.

Having landed on a branch, she shook her head to free herself from her dizziness. She looked up to see Jaune hanging above her from another branch.

"Jaune?" Ruby said, surprised.

Jaune weakly raised his hand. "Hey Ruby."

Blake and Yang saw the whole thing, leaving them both dumbfounded.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked in confusion.

"…I…" was all Yang could manage.

The two were brought out of their state when they heard the sound of several birds cawing in the distance. They both looked over to see, much to their surprise, a large flock of small Nevermore flying towards their direction. What was most shocking about the scene was that there were two people jumping from Nevermore to Nevermore, using them as stepping stones while trying to avoid the ones attempting to attack them.

Cecile threw her boomerangs at another small group of the air-born Grimm, effortlessly catching them when they spun back at her. Bouncing off of another Nevermore, she turned her head, her peripheral vision catching the sight of a set of old ruins, as well as two other people.

She turned her head to look at Talia. "Hey, Talia! We found the Temple!" she said in excitement.

Talia smiled after hearing that, mainly because of how enthusiastic Cecile was. She then nodded her head to acknowledge that she heard her. "In that case, give me a second."

Talia quickly delved into her pockets, pulling out a couple of red dust crystals. She threw them up into the air, followed by briskly grabbing the handle of her weapon with both hands, turning the handle, finally separating the weapon into a sword and dagger.

She threw the dagger at the crystals, causing them to explode. The force was enough to take down the Nevermore, and to cause the two huntresses in training to fly towards the ruins. Reacting quickly, Talia pulled out another crystal, this one being colored green, and threw it towards where they were about to crash land, followed by her dagger once more.

When the dagger struck, the crystal exploded, only this time it created a powerful gust of wind that momentarily slowed down their fall, allowing them to land safely. Talia looked over towards Cecile, who's eyes were sparkling with amazement.

"WOW! THAT WAS AWESOME!" she exclaimed. "Can we do it again!?"

"… Did those two… fly here with a flock of Nevermore?" Blake asked, now more confused.

Yang was about so say something, but was interrupted when she heard a roar in the distance. Both Blake and Yang looked over to see an Usra running towards the temple. It stood up on its hind legs and roared. However, it ceased when a large spark of pink electricity struck its back, killing it in an instant.

"YEE-HAAW!" came the voice of a familiar orange-haired girl that rolled off of the collapsing Ursa's back. She stood up again and looked towards the Ursa, pouting in disappointment.

"Aw. It's broke." She said.

She jumped back onto the Ursa, examining the remains out of curiosity. As soon as she said that, a familiar looking boy with black hair and magenta eyes appeared from behind the Ursa, looking out of breath from running.

"Nora… don't do that again." He begged his friend. He looked up after getting his breath back, seeing that Nora had already vanished.

Nora was at the ruins, observing a white Rook piece with wide-eyes curiosity. She the picked it up and began to sing " _I'm the queen of the Castle, I'm the queen of the Castle-_ "

"NORA!"

Nora giggle slightly. "Coming Ren!" she yelled back at her partner cheerfully.

Blake raised an eyebrow at the scene. "Did that girl… ride in her on an Ursa?"

Before Blake could get any response, everyone present suddenly felt the ground trembling. They weren't sure what was causing it, afraid that another Grimm was about to appear. Soon after, they heard an explosion nearby, causing them to look in the direction the sound came from.

They were all surprised to see part of the ground flying through the air, as well as a large pack of Beowolves, and the Platinum-Blond haired boy from before, who was wielding a large pair of war-axes. As he had rocketed out from the ground, he had swung his weapons around like a helicopter propeller, cleaving any of the Grimm that were near him.

By the time he landed, all the Grimm that were surrounding him were left in pieces, fading away soon after. He put the war axes on the sides of his hips and slammed his fists together.

"WOOOO-HOOOO! THAT was a RUSH!" he yelled, clearly well fueled with adrenaline.

"Did that guy… burst out of the ground with Beowolves?"

"Uuuh?" was all Yang could managed.

With that, they heard yet another disturbance making itself known. Everyone present turned to see Pyrrha running towards the ruins. What was most bewildering from the sight was that there was a Deathstalker Grimm on her tail.

The Grimm had managed to get close to Pyrrha, swiping one of its laws at her. However, since they were open, Pyrrha jumped and avoided getting hit by flying through the gap, after which she continued to run.

Pyrrha looked up and recognized her partner hanging from the branch. "JAUNE!"

"Pyrrha?" Jaune said.

"Whoa!" Ruby exclaimed after seeing Pyrrha in action, jumping off the branch.

"Ruby!" Jaune yelled, still needing help.

Ruby landed with a roll, coming face to face with her sister.

"Ruby!" Yang said happily.

"Yang!" Replied Ruby, about to hug her sister.

"NORAAAA!" Nora said, jumping in between to two sisters, not wanting to be left out.

"Did that girl… run all the way over here with a Deathstalker after her?" Blake asked, still seeing Pyrrha running away from the creature.

"it seems that way."

Eveyone turned to see Cecile and Talia.

"CECILE!" Yang and Ruby cried.

"Ruby! Yang!" she yelled, pulling the sisters into a hug.

Talia looked over and saw the platinum blond running over towards them. "… Him." She simply said.

"Hey, C'mon!" he yelled, slightly offended. "The name's Leroy!"

Ruby escaped from the group hug and gave the boy, now known as Leroy, two thumbs up. "Nice to meet'cha!" she yelled.

With all the random events occurig all at once, Yang was slowly beginning to lose her patience. And now, she finally had enough. Her hair ignited, creating a small shockwave, and her eyes began to glow red.

"I cant' TAKE IT ANYMORE! CAN EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT BEFORE ANYTHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN!?" she cried.

Exactly two seconds later, Ruby looked up, a slight look of worry on her face, gently tapping Yang on the shoulder. "Uh, Yang?"

Everyone looked up to see what had caught Ruby's attention. Cecile widened her eyes when she saw a Nevermore that was easily the largest version of the flight Grimm that they had ever seen, making the ones she and Talia fought before look like ants in comparison.

The main focus, however, was on the Schnee Heiress, and how she was perilously hanging from one of the creature's talons.

"How could you leave me!?" she cried.

"I said jump!" Ruby yelled back.

"She's gonna fall." Blake pointed out.

"She'll be fine." Ruby said.

"…She's falling." Ren finished.

As Weiss was falling, Jaune saw her plummeting and decided to take action, hoping to impress the schnee Heiress. He leapt from the branch and caught her in her arms, initially startling her. However, the moment soon faded when they realized that they were still high up in the air, causing them to instinctively clutch onto each other for dear life.

Falling to the ground, Jaune was the first to land, flat on his face no less. Weiss landed second, crashing onto his lower back, creating a distinctive crushing noise.

"My hero." She said sarcastically while observing her nails, clearly not impressed.

"My back." Jaune groaned painfully.

As this was going, the Deathstalker was still going after Pyrrha. Eventually, it was successful, slamming a claw into her and sending her flying towards the rest of the group.

"Yep. It's official." Talia said with a dark tone. "We'll all die together."

"Not if I can help it." Ruby stated with a look of confidence on her face. Unfolding her weapon, she blasted towards the Deathstalker, despite her sister's protest.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out in worry.

When she was close enogh, the young reaper slashed at the large Grimm, only for her weapon to bounce off and cause her to rebound and land on her back.

She quickly got back on her feet. "I'm okay. Don't worry about me." She said. she looked back towards the Deathstalker, firing a couple more rounds at it. Seeing how it wasn't working, she decided to cut her losses and run back towards the group, with Yang running to her to try and keep her safe.

Unfortunately, the massive Nevermore saw Ruby running and decided to end her life. Bring it back its wings, it then pointed them forward, firing a barrage of large feathers at her. Ruby was able to avoid most of them, but one of them caught onto her cloak, pinning her down.

Yang's path towards Ruby was blocked after the barrage of feathers continued towards the blond brawler. "Ruby! Get out of there!" she cried, now terrified for her sister's safety.

"I'm… trying!" Ruby yelled as she was unsuccessfully trying to pull her cloak free. Her attempts soon stopped, when she saw a shadow looming over her. The Deathstalker pulled back its tail, ready to land the final blow at the girl, who was now paralyzed by fear.

"RUBY!" Yang cried.

The Deathstalker brought down its tail. Ruby had her eyes shut, waiting for for the monster to finish her of. Instead, she heard a loud, cracking noise, followed by an inhuman screech of pain, which she assumed must've come from the Deathstalker.

She slowly opened her eyes, only to see that the Large Grimm was now some distance away, large cracks visible on several parts of its body.

The young reaper's peripheral vision caught onto something else. She turned and saw a figure standing before her, looking towards the Deathstalker. His aura was a brilliant shade of red, with a bright white light shining within, outlining the figure's form. While she had never seen that before, she was well able to recognize who it was that saved her.

"… S… Simon…?"

 **Alright, ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to leave it at that for the time being. I think this must be one of the longest chapters I've written for the story; guess I got into a kind of a groove. Anyway, now that all of the initiates are resent, things will soon get a bit more interesting.**

 **And to those who are wondering how Simon escaped and why his aura's different, it will be explained in the next chapter. Don't worry.**

 **Right. I can't think of anything else to say, but before I sign off-**

 **thelich7245: Yep, you're fairly bang on there. Just so you know though, Simon's weapon would look more like the original vampire killer from the series, in case you were referring to the LoS Vampire Killer; if you weren't I apologise. Though he'll be making his own parts from scratch for his weapon, which will be vital since the Vampire Killer will play a more important role in the story later on.**

 **Zetazero246: To answer your question, Gabriel won't be a student, and he won't be paired with anyone. Mainly because I reckon he's still wanting to be faithful to Marie.**

 **Roadmaster9000: Glad you like the story, I'll be sure to keep working on it when I can.**

 **Right, with that done, I'm signing off to work on the next chapter. Hope you liked it. Feel free to leave a review to say what you like, disliked and/or what could I do to improve the story. As with all I do, I value all opinions. See you all later, and I hope you have a nice day. ;-)**


	7. Initiation Pt 2

"Uh… hello."

Simon looked up in wide-eyed horror at what had been the source of the dripping blood from the ceiling. Above him seemed to be a collection of rather unsettlingly large cobwebs forming a new ceiling, the majority of them stained with patches of dried blood.

In the center, however, was a cocoon that was soaked in fresh blood, which had been dripping down blood onto the floor beneath it. The cocoon seemed to be making a thumping noise, twice in succession, like a heart, which only added to Simon's worry.

Slowly walking away from the scene, he hoped that he could be quiet enough to avoid any conflict with the creature, whatever it was. He had already seen how difficult it had been to fight against the dishonored vampires, as such, he didn't like the idea of facing a threatening anomaly like that.

Simon then raised an eyebrow, remembering he had chosen to fight against the monsters without his aura. While he admitted it was a foolish decision, he needed to see how strong he truly was without his aura. Having seen how he had difficulty using it after entering this castle, he came to realize that his power, as deadly and dangerous as it was, wouldn't be always available to him.

He looked back up the creature, wondering if he could take it down with the use of his aura. Those vampires seemed easier to take down while, he had to admit. If that was the case, then-

"SIMON!"

Simon jumped when he heard Alucard calling out his name, bringing him back into reality. He remembered that Alucard was still fending off a small army of those other vampires.

"Uh, ON THE WAY!" Simon yelled back, hoping that Alucard could hear him.

Before Simon could escape, however, the iron doors that sealed the room slammed themselves closed.

"Gah! What the peanuts!?" he said, once again cursing in his own unique way.

 _ **Ah… so you have noticed…**_

A cold, tired out voice made itself known in Simon's head, causing him to wince slightly in pain. Afraid of what this might be, he slowly turned his head back up to the cocoon. He soon regretted it, as a black line formed along the middle of the shell. Slowly, it opened up, indicating that whatever was resting within was about to be freed.

"…" Simon didn't say anything at first. Instead, he stared at the opening being formed for a couple of seconds, only for him to rush at the door and strike it with an aura covered fist. Shockingly, though, the door didn't open.

 _ **Oh… must you leave so soon?**_

A second later, whatever was hiding within the cocoon finally fell out, landing ion the ground as a large pile of red mush. Simon looked back, surprised by what he was seeing.

"…Well that's new." He said with a deadpanned tone.

A large spike shot out of the mush, pointing upward in the air for the briefest of moments before slowly bending towards the ground, the tip embedding itself into the stone floor. More spikes shot out, one at a time, until it reached the eighth.

Whatever was hiding within the mass of built-up blood slowly raised itself up with the support of its legs, allowing most of the blood to fall off it as it rose.

By the time most of the blood had fallen, Simon saw that he was staring at something… something beyond belief. The being was a massive spider-like creature, its body covered in brown, cracked scales, the poison sack being hind it was transparent, aside from the tiger strips that wrapped themselves around it, the poison within seemed to glow an eerie ember.

The head of the spider, however, was different compared to what he would've expected. Instead of a typical spider head with the eyes and feelers, instead rested the upper body of a young woman, the lower half seeing to fused into the spider. She was deathly pale, a head of long, frayed, black hair covering one of her two brown eyes, as well as her chest. Her drained facial features, as obvious as they were, were second to the numerous fresh cuts covering her torso, each one slowly leaking blood.

The woman didn't move her mouth, but Simon could still hear a voice that he assumed belonged to her.

 _ **Are you startled?**_

Simon didn't answer, instead he stared at the being with a set of hardened eyes.

The Spider woman smiled at the young man.

 _ **You put on a brave face… I admire that. However, you cannot hide the fear you are feeling from me. It is… unremarkably obvious.**_

At that, Simon felt a little offended. He wasn't sure why, but he did. Nonetheless, he shook his head and decided to speak. "Considering this is the first time seeing something as… unique as yourself, you can imagine that it's only natural.

The spider woman widened her eyes in surprise.

 _ **So you speak. You are braver than I assumed. Many men's tongues would be rendered unusable after seeing me.**_

"Trauma?" Simon asked, once again, in a deadpanned tone. Simon couldn't help but smirk when he saw the being's look of surprise. "Well, you're right in that you scare me. A lot, actually. But, I've learned to put that fear to one side when I've been put in a corner."

At that, the spider woman grinned.

… _**You… are a truly interesting human.**_

The spider body leaned forward, allowing the woman to look more closely at Simon.

 _ **Just like the Prince of Darkness.**_

At that, Simon raised an eyebrow. "Prince of what?"

 _ **The masses would know him as… Dracula.**_

"…" Simon could've thought a lot of things in that moment. He could've been concerned that it was affected by the blood and wanted to trap him, or just what kind of monsters did the elder vampire recruit. However, perhaps due to hanging out with Yang so much, he only thought

" _Dude's got weird taste in women._ "

He then looked at the woman with a smirk. "Well, as fun as it's been, I'm going to head off. Nice chatting to you."

Simon turned and was about to leave, when one of the being's legs shot in front of him from about, blocking his way out.

 _ **Why would I let you leave? Your power… the surging energy I can sense through you… it's astounding… intoxicating… why would I let such a valuable being leave me?**_

Knowing how much trouble he was now in, Simon tried to think of a way out. One idea then came to mind, a leer forming on his face as it did.

"My buddy Alucard's waiting on me. I hope you understand."

In that moment, any interest in the boy the spider woman had in Simon was gone. Her face slowly morphed into one of rage, her eye color changing to red and her teeth becoming noticeable sharper.

 _ **Alucard… the treacherous spawn of the Dark Lord… you are HIS ally?**_

The spider woman pulled herself back and roared into the air, causing the two front legs of the spider's body to go up as well. In her fury, she used said legs to swipe at Simon, intending to run him through.

"Here goes nothing." Simon quipped, raising his aura coated forearms in defense. The legs hit his arms, which were fully protected from the attack, but he was sent flying through. The force was enough to send Simon through the door, allowing him to escape.

Since his aura wasn't able to protect him like a normal one, it would would explain why he heard several cracking noises coming from his rib cage.

Nevertheless, he flipped through the air as he was sent flying, landing on his feet and looked up to see the spider woman trying to push herself out of the door. It proved to be a struggle due to her size. Simon wasn't foolish enough to stick around, though, as he could see cracks starting to form on the edges of the doorway.

Sprinting back to the main chamber, he leaped and looked down to see Alucard… meditating in the center of the room. The weapons of the dishonored vampires rested around him. Simon landed with a roll, followed by briskly jogging over to where Alucard rested.

"You took your time arriving back." He said with a neutral tone, not opening his eyes as he spoke.

Simon smiled nervously and scratched the back on his head. "Oh, sorry about that. Kind of had some trouble getting here."

Alucard opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at the teen. "Perhaps you should've tried to use your aura to help you. I don't know why you-"

"Not, what I meant." Simon quickly interrupted. "It's just… well… you don't happen to know a woman who-"

 _ **RRRRAAAAAGHH!**_

Simon instantly turned towards where he heard the sound, summoning his copy of the shadow whip. Seeing how this creature was a step above the rest, he'll need to use all he had at his disposal. Alucard followed suit, leaping onto his feet and materializing the Crissaegrim, facing towards the source of the sound.

The entrance to the narrow passageway suddenly exploded as something large blasted through, still continuing to shriek with rage. The spider woman landed some distance away from the huntsman in training and vampiric swordsman.

Her eyes slowly went over to Alucard, causing her to growl. " **Alucard…** "

"Finally! She speaks!" Simon said dramatically. He then looked over towards the stone faced vampire. "You guys know each other?"

Alucard nodded. "We met during my imprisonment here. I would advise you to be careful." He said, while activating the blue energy on his blade. "If given the chance, she will tear you apart piece by piece."

"Oh, so the traditional, creepy-castle greeting, then." Simon quipped, remembering how the monsters he saw when he first entered the castle instantly wanted to kill him.

Alucard smirked, but kept his gaze on the creature. "I was wondering where you had been hiding, Modiria. You were quick to retreat after our last battle." He said.

The spider woman, now known as Modiria, allowed her frown to soften into a look of amusement. She slowly raised her hands into the air as she spoke. " **That shall not happen again. You shall regret the day you turned against your own father.** " She said calmly.

" _Father?_ " Simon thought, turning his head towards Alucard.

Alucard spun his sword in his hand and zoomed towards Modiria, his blade outstretched to his right. When he was close enough, he lowered himself closer to the ground and then rocketed towards his opponent. Modiria brought two of her spider legs up in defense, blocking Alucard's attack.

The Crissaegrim's blue hue changed to its fire, followed by Alucard, pressing hard into the spider limbs. Modiria howled in pain as she felt the heat searing its way through. She leaned herself forward before bringing herself had up, sending her spider legs up into the air, along with Alucard.

Simon grinned. "My turn!" he exclaimed, as he formed the same disc of aura he used on the airship Torchwick escaped on. Only this time, he didn't waste time with additional spins and just hurled the weapon at the spider woman. As it flew, Simon ran after it, lashing his hand out and fired the tip of his shadow whip at her.

Modiria was so focused on the disc that was aimed towards her human torso, to which she brought up her front two spider legs, that she didn't see the whip point that embedded itself into the center of her stomach.

" **Tch!** " was all she said in response to the impalement.

Simon widened his eyes after seeing that. "Wow. Nice pain tolerance." He said with a smile. He concentrated his aura around his arms and then, with great force, pulled the hip back. Luckily, it was in at an angle that allowed it to stick, and pull Modiria right towards him. As she flew at him, Simon deactivated the whip and spun around, coating his feet in aura, then jumping and landing a side kick to the spider body, resulting in several squishing noises and cracks.

Modiria was sent flying back, but managed to stay upright and landed perfectly. She glared at the Huntsman in training, the blood oozing from her lacerations seeming to leak out at a faster rate than before.

" **You are a troublesome brat, aren't you?** " she asked in disgust.

At that, Simon couldn't help but laugh lightly, as Modiria briefly reminded him of Weiss. That laugh only seemed to anger the spider woman even more, as she was about to attack. However, before she could, the ceiling above her shook slightly, followed by much of the stone it was made from to collapse onto her, causing her to scream in pain as she was buried underneath the rubble.

Simon raised an eyebrow at this, confused by what had happened. "Well… that was good timing."

"More than you know."

Simon whipped his head around, only to find Alucard standing behind him, his right hand, outlined by a pink energy, pointed up towards the ceiling.

"I have the ability to change the time of specific areas. Originally, I thought it was limited to rewinding areas, repairing the damage dealt." He lowered his hand, flexing his fingers. "Though it seems that I can make their time move forward as well."

Simon widened his eyes, thinking that that would be a cool semblance to have. He was about to ask a question when Alucard suddenly spoke.

"We don't have much time. Take out the Medallion." He said.

Simon nodded, taking out said medallion.

"Now, channel your aura and think about where you want to go. If you can't think of a place, think of a person you know. The medallion will bring you to them."

Again, Simon nodded. He looked at the medallion and gently tightened his grip on the artifact, allowing his aura to flow within. A second later, he saw the eyes of the wolf glowing.

"Alright, wolfie." Simon said out loud. "Take us to-"

Simon was interrupted when he heard a loud shriek travel through the air, prompting him to look in the direction it came from. He saw the rubble trapping Modiria was beginning to shudder.

Alucard summoned his sword and prepared his battle stance. "It seems she's still has some fight left in her." He said. He looked back at Simon. "Continue with what you were doing, I'll hold her off."

At that, Simon widened his eyes. "Huh!? I can't let you fight her alone, no way!" he exclaimed.

Alucard narrowed his eyes at the boy, causing Simon to feel a cold shiver travel down his spine. "Do not worry about me. Just focus on your own escape." He said.

Simon could tell that Alucard wasn't going to change his mind. Sighing in defeat, Simon continued with what he was doing. "Take me to the Forest temple in the Emerald forest, Remnant."

At that, the medallion unleashed a pale energy that quickly wrapped itself around Simon. When he was completely covered, Modiria broke out from the rubble, and saw that Simon was disappearing.

" **You cannot escape me, my prey!** " she roared, leaping towards Simon. Alucard appeared in front of her, however, swiftly slashing his sword at her, causing her to back away. As she landed, she looked behind Alucard, and saw that the pale energy had faded, as well as Simon.

Alucard pointed the tip of his sword at her. "You won't be able to reach him now. Your fight is with me." He stated, now taking up his battle stance.

Modiria was silent for a moment. She then broke it when she let off a light laugh of amusement. She continued to do so, allowing it to become a maniacal cackle. Alucard didn't show it, but he was taken aback by her sudden behaviour.

" **Oh… Alucard. Haven't you learned?** " she asked. As she did, the blood appeared from beneath her, the vein-like tentacles latching themselves onto her and slowly pulled her in. " **No one can escape us…** " was all she said.

Alucard, knowing where she was going, dashed towards her, readying to cut her into pieces. However, he was interrupted when something appeared between the two of them. Alucard stopped, and saw that the creature was a large spider, taking on similar appearance to Modiria, aside from the fact that it had a regular style spider head. However, what was most significant was that its legs were in the shape of blades.

If that wasn't bad enough, several more like it began to appear. Surrounding Alucard in the process.

" **Stall him, my children. Make your mother proud.** " She added before finally being submerged into the blood. The puddle faded away, leaving Alucard alone with an army of spider, all quite keen to kill the vampiric swordsmen.

Alucard showed no fear. In fact, he seemed rather pleased, anticipating an interesting fight.

"I hope none of you will bore me." He said, right before the spiders lunged at him.

…

Simon opened his eyes. His vision was blurred, but it slowly recovered, allowing him to see where he was. He looked behind him and saw a large row of trees standing before him. As his vision fully recovered, he turned around a full 360 degrees to see where he was. A small smile broke out of his face when he realized he was back in Remnant.

"Thank god…" his face slowly fell as he thought back to the vampire who helped him while he was in the castle, a strong guilt flowing through him. "Why couldn't I have helped him… why…" he shot his head up, followed by shaking it as he tried to get this thoughts in order.

"Can't think of that, I still gotta do the initiation… besides…" Simon patted his pockets to see if what he was looking for was there. He then delved into his pocket and pulled out the same medallion. "If I can get out, I can find a way in."

He put the medallion back and proceeded to find the destination. He only walked five feet when he suddenly heard a lot of commotion coming from the right. Concerned, he ran over towards the source of the sound. He came to a set of bushes, to which he pushed out f the way.

As he did, he was frozen still with horror when he saw Ruby pinned by a giant feather, with a Deathstalker moving closer towards her.

"…Oh no… you DON'T!"

Simon reacted instantly, coating his feet with aura, he dashed towards her. His sight caught the sight of the Deathstalker raising its tail. However, Simon wasn't going to give it the chance. He took out his regular whip and concentrated his aura around it, increasing its strength.

When he was close enough, Simon spun forward like a buzz saw and struck the Deathstalker. The creature let out an ear-shattering shriek. The cracks forming on its armour was also a strong indication of how much damage was being dealt.

Simon wasn't done, however. In his anger, he continued to lash out at the creature, forming several more cracks in the creature's armour. For one final strike, Simon concentrated his aura into his free fist, landing a punch right in between the main eyes of the Grimm, causing it to skid backwards.

Simon stood tall, continuing to glare at the Grimm. For some reason, however… he didn't feel as tired as he should've been.

"S…Simon?"

The Whipmaster perked his head up from hearing his name, prompting him to turn and see Ruby, who looked at Simon in both awe and surprise.

"Ruby. You okay?" he asked.

Ruby blinked a few times, trying to register what she had seen. "Uh… yeah, but… Simon, what happened to you?"

Simon tilted his head to one side, unsure of what Ruby meant. Ruby pointed towards his right arm. Simon looked down, unsure what Ruby was getting at. As he did, however, he understood what had surprised Ruby so much. His aura had changed. Instead of a mass of black and red, it was mainly scarlet red with a bright white inner line, surround his body. Simon couldn't help but notice that-

"SIMON!"

Simon was brought out of his thoughts by a screaming Ruby, who was pointing behind him. He turned and saw that the Deathstalker was charging towards him.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me." He said with deadpanned tone.

Readying himself, he leaped towards the Grimm, deciding this time to summon the Shadow whip. Upon summoning it, though, he saw that the gauntlet had changed scarlet red with white lines to indicate the various parts. Deciding to see what else had changed, he used the whip on the creature.

The Whip was also red with a white line interior, but Simon felt that there was more power running through it now. He watched the whip strike at where the Deathstalker tail connected to the main body. Much to Simon's surprise, though, the whip continued through, severing the tail off the the Grimm.

"Whoa!" Simon instinctively exclaimed, surprised by the power.

He didn't ponder on it for long, however, as he had to evade the pained Deathstalker's large claws. He leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding the swipe.

Back at the ruins, the rest of the initiates were staring at the fight, unable to believe what they were seeing. Talia was cool enough to not be gobsmacked by the power being displayed, but her intrigue was present all the same.

"Impressive." She simply stated.

Yang and Nora then broke out of their trances, followed by them cheering Simon on.

"Alright! You got this Simon!" Yang yelled, confident in Simon's ability.

"BREAK ITS LEGS!" Nora practically demanded. "I WANNA SEE GRIMM PARTS FLYING ALL OVER WHEN YOU'RE DONE!" she roared, now sounding like a drill sergeant.

Ruby, who hadn't moved an inch, still couldn't believe what she was seeing. Granted, she knew that Simon had a lot of power under his belt, but this was something new entirely. What could've happened since she last saw him?

Simon, meanwhile, decided to end thing with the Grimm. He ran towards it, his iris' seeming to glow as he got closer. He them jumped up and swung the whip around. He had hoped that he had gotten the angle right for his attack, but he hadn't need to worry.

The whip sliced through where the Grimm's arms, relieving it of its claws. As it shrieked in pain, Simon spun like a buzz saw once more and struck directly through the centre of the creature. This caused the Deathstalker to become as still as a statue.

Simon jumped away from the creature and, with a slight smirk, clicked his fingers. A second later, black smoke erupted from where Simon dealt the final blow, followed by the two newly formed halves of the Grimm tilting away from each other. The halves soon faded from existence.

Ruby slowly walked up to Simon, who had turned to see if Ruby was alright. Seeing the look of surprise on her face, Simon became worried about what to say next.

"… Uh… Ruby, I…" Was what Simon started with.

He was interrupted, however, when Ruby's eyes began to sparkle and a huge smile formed on her face. "WOOOOOW! That was AMAZING!" she cried. "I mean, you were super cool already, being able to weaponize you aura and all, but that was SOOOOO much cooler, you were like 'Wa-CHA! And 'Hi-YAAH! And "Wha-ZA!" she kept saying, unable to contain the excitement.

Soon after, the rest of the initiates ran over to them, all of them having questions of their own.

"Simon, that was awesome! How come you never did that before?" Yang asked.

Simon shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I only got like this after… wait."

Simon pulled the medallion he got from the castle and looked at it, seeing the eyes of the wolf continuing to glow. Wanting to confirm his suspicions, he tightened his grip on the medallion momentarily before releasing, which caused the wolf eyes to cease glowing. As this happened, Simon summoned his aura, which was now fading back into its original swirling black and red.

Simon looked back at the medallion, now more confused than ever. " _Alucard… what exactly is this thing?_ " he thought, surprised that it was the medallion that had given him that boost.

Nora looked over Yang's shoulder and saw the medallion. "Oh… shiny." She said. She then looked over at Simon. "Can I have it?"

"Nora." Ren said firmly.

Nora pouted in response. "Alright, fine, I'll leave him alone." She said just as grumpily. "But if it's alright I've got a question."

"Um, sure, fire away." Simon said, curious as to what the Valkyrie had to say.

Nora then pointed behind Simon's right shoulder. "Is that medal got anything to do with that red stuff behind you?"

"Red stu… uh oh." Simon said, turning around to see what Nora was talking about.

Sure enough, a large pool of blood, more than likely the blood of the castle, was building up in front of them. The majority of people present looked at the growing puddle with shock, especially Blake.

" _What… what is that thing… why is it making me… feel sick._ " She thought. Blake was actually a Faunus in hiding, deciding that she would hide her Faunus heritage in hope of being more accepted by society. One of the most notable traits held by the Faunus was their heightened senses, allowing them to pick upon what regular humans could not, whether it be noises or… something else.

In this instance, all Blake could tell from what was before them was that it was an undeniable threat.

Both Yang and Ruby readied their battle stances after seeing the blood. Having already experienced this in the manor, they had a better idea on how to fight against it.

"Looks like round two." Yang stated, reloading her Ember Cecilia with Dust rounds.

Ruby looked over at Simon. "Do you think we can-"

"Everyone get out of here." Simon exclaimed.

At this, everyone looked at him like he was mad. Cecile spoke first. "What! Simon, what are you talking about! We can't just-"

"If I'm right, then what's about to come out of there WILL kill you. No doubt about it." he said. "Just get the relics and head back to the cliff."

"And why should we do that? Why are you so adamant about fighting this thing alone?" Pyrrha asked.

"Because I've got a fair idea of what's going to pop out of there. And I do-"

Before Simon could finish what he was saying, several large spikes shot out from the pool. When they were fully extended, they slowly started to bend, parts of the legs segmenting as they bent at certain points.

Simon turned back to the rest of the group. "Seriously, just go. I can take it."

Jaune stepped forward. "Simon, look. I don't know what that thing is, but you're not fighting that thing alone. Period." He stated.

The whipmaster widened his eyes slightly, surprised by the blonde's sudden assertiveness. He looked at the rest of the group, who all had similar looks of determination on their faces. His eyes then landed on Ruby and Yang.

Simon grinned at them. "Think you guys can handle this?" he asked.

"Do you have to ask?" Yang answered, reloading her gauntlets with dust rounds.

"We're with you all the way." Ruby said, unfolding her scythe.

Seeing how there was no changing their minds, the whipmaster sighed and looked back towards the blood. "If this is how it's gonna be, then I'll need all of you to distract it."

At that, Nora pouted at Simon. "Why distract it? I wanna SMAAASH whatever's poopin' outta there!" she stated, causing Ren to shake his head.

Simon summoned the gauntlet for the aura whip. "Because, so far, I'm the only one who's been able to harm the monsters that come from this blood.

Weiss looked at Simon with a look of astonishment. "Wait! Are you saying you-"

Before Weiss could finish what she was saying, a loud, inhuman shriek filled the air, as well a distinctive splashing sound. Where the spike were previously protruding, something had shot out, now flying up into the air. In a few seconds, the object in question landed on the ground, using the spikes, seeming to be attached to the object, to keep itself standing.

The object, while covered in blood, seemed to take on a spider-like shape. However, this was proven after the blood that obscured the creature was slowly absorbed into its skin. After it had finished, Simon saw that it was the same spider woman from before.

"What… is… that?" Leroy asked, his eyes bulging from shock.

"Whatever it is, we need to defeat it." Ren stated, readying his stormflower pistols.

Modiria slowly opened her eyes, revealing the orbs to now be replaced with a glowing red light. " **We have come for you, boy.** " The creature stated. She held out a hand towards the group, while looking at Simon. " **Return with me… take your place as-** "

"Quiet for a sec, would you!?" Simon exclaimed, garnering everyone's attention. "Modiria… Modiria, right? I don't know what's going through that head of yours, but no matter what you believe, I'm not going to waste my life being your prisoner."

The whipmaster put his hands behind his head and smiled. "So how about you scurry back to that dark corner of yours, and leave us all be." He stated.

Yang couldn't help but smirk. Simon was usually quite passive before the mansion incident, but he was never afraid to show how confident he was when the need arose.

His words seemed to have affected the spider woman… in that her facial features showed that she was rather ticked off.

"… **Such brave words…** " she started. " **Such a shame that they will be your last.** "

With that, Modiria scurried towards the huntresses in training, her front two legs outstretched as she was about to strike. Seeing this, all the students rushed to either the left or right, allowing the creature to pass by.

Ruby morphed her weapon into her cannon form, loading her weapon with ice dust. Yang, on the other hand, wasted no time with firing the shotgun dust rounds at the creature, wanting to land as much damage as possible.

Yang's shots landed several hits on the human part of the spider woman, but did nothing to actually harm her. Ruby, on the other hand, had more success as she shot at the creature's legs, slowly encasing them in ice.

"Oh yeah! Ruby Rose, number one!" she exclaimed as she continued to fire.

Not wanting to feel outdone, Weiss spun the chamber in her rapier, Myrtenaster, and had it set to the ice dust. Upon doing so, she swung her weapon, firing volleys of light-blue projectiles. As each one struck the creature, more ice was forming around it.

Weiss allowed herself a grin. "Hmph. Looks like it's not so threatening after all."

Yang turned her head towards Weiss. "Nuh-uh. It ain't over Ice Queen." She stated, reloading her gauntlets.

Weiss was slightly offended by the nickname, but it was quickly replaced by confusion when she registered all of what Yang said. "What do you mean-"

Weiss was interrupted when she heard the sound of something shattering into pieces. Turning towards the source of the sound, Yang, Weiss and Ruby all saw that Modiria was starting to escape, successfully breaking some of the ice.

Ruby looked worried. "I don't think that ice is gonna hold her for long." She said.

Simon appeared beside Yang, not startling the blond brawler by any means, and reformed the gauntlet for the aura whip. "Then I'd better finish this." He said, cracking the whip on the ground and rushing forward.

"It's OVER!" Simon bellowed, pulling back the whip as he prepared a devastating blow.

Unfortunately, his chances were dashed when his path was blocked by a volley of giant, black feathers.

This forced Simon to skid to a halt, and vault to the side when the feathers continued to travel his direction. After standing back on his feet and looked back towards the Spider woman, only to see something smash through the feathers, and towards him.

"Oh, you've gottaaaAAAGH!" Simon roared, being sent flying back from the force of Modiria striking him.

Pulling her leg back, Modiria leered towards Simon's direction. " **You will have to do better than that!** " she roared at the airborne Simon.

Seeing that he was in trouble, Blake took action. She morphed her weapon, the Gambol Shroud, from its base form into a sickle. She threw the blade, along with its incredibly long tether, towards the whipmaster. The tether wrapped itself around Simon's leg.

With as much force as she could muster, she pulled the sickle back, along with Simon. Seeing this, Modiria's leer changed to a look of spite.

" **Do NOT interrupt my entertainment!** " Modiria roared, now lunging at Blake.

She would've succeeded in reaching Belladonna, had she not had two more humans, one an armored, blond-haired boy and a red haired Spartan step before her, their shields upraised. She collided with them, sending them skidding backwards slightly. However, with their combined strength, they were able to hold off the Spider woman, much to said monster's surprise.

"Ah, jeez! What's this thing eat?!" Jaune exclaimed, surprised the creature's strength.

"Perhaps it's best not to think of it." Pyrrha stated, afraid of what the answer might be.

" **AWAY WITH YOU, YOU PESTS!** "

Modiria swiped at Pyrrha and Jaune, planning on removing them entirely. This was stopped, however, when an explosion went off in her face, her vison obscured by a large, pink cloud.

Nora had a maniac grin on her face as she aimed her hammer, Magnhild, now in the form of a grenade launcher, at Modiria. "AAAAlright, bug-lady. You don't get to pop in and mess up our initiation. Seriously, it was the _only_ test I ever enjoyed doing" she said, pointing her weapon at Modiria's head.

Nora fired off some more rounds at spider woman's head. While they did not seem to deal much damage, it worked perfectly to stun the already agitated creature.

Blake had caught Simon and laid him on the ground. Thankfully, he didn't seem hurt, just disoriented. When he got his wits about him again, he looked over towards the young woman who helped him, a small smile forming on his face.

"Thank you, Blake." Simon said, genuine gratitude in his voice.

Blake smiled back towards him. "You're welcome Simon." She said back, happy to have helped him.

Ruby and Yang ran up to the two, both seeming worried, but calmed down when they saw Simon getting back on his feet on his own. Had he felt he was not alright, he would've needed Blake's help.

"YAY! You're okay!" Ruby said, wrapping her arms around Simon.

"OW! Rubes! Please don't!" Simon yelled out.

At that, Ruby released Simon, followed by the whipmaster wrapping an arm around his torso. He collapsed to one knee and gritted his teeth. Yang, Blake and Ruby all looked at him with worried expressions.

Yang knelt down beside him. "Simon, what's wrong?" she asked.

Simon gave her a nervous smile. "Cracked ribs, I think." He looked over towards Ruby, who looked a bit sheepish. "And no, Ruby, it wasn't you."

"Shouldn't your aura he healing that?" Blake asked, surprised that he was able to move with broken ribs.

Simon shook his head in response. "My aura doesn't work like that." he answered. "I can concentrate it to make parts of me stronger, but it can't heal me."

"Certainly sucks now." Yang added.

Ruby looked back towards the battle. The rest of the initiates were doing a great job at holding back the creature, but they couldn't hurt it in the slightest. She then looked over towards Simon, who still seemed to be on his knees.

"Do you think you can move, Simon?" Ruby asked, now kneeling beside him.

Simon was about to say something when he suddenly frowned. He turned his head up towards the sky and widened his eyes surprise.

"I think we'll have to in a moment!" he cried, shoving Blake to one side and pushed himself and Yang back. A second later, more feather shot down from the sky, prompting Ruby to use her Semblance to zoom around the projectiles.

Yang looked up towards the sky, seeing the Nevermore from before. Her eyes glowed red as she now gritted her teeth. "Seriously!? What the hell is that thing's problem!?"

"The negativity our arachnid friend does well to keep any Grimm around, apparently." Simon couldn't help but say, continuing to clutch at his side.

"Simon!"

All heads turned to see Cecile running up towards them, both boomerangs in hand. She looked a little flustered, but other than that she seemed okay.

She stopped directly in front of them, looking up at the sky. "That thing's only making it worse for us. We need to take it out."

"Anyone have any ideas?" Blake asked, seeming a lot calmer than the rest of the group, aside from Simon.

Ruby turned her head back towards the Nevermore, seeing that it is now flapping its wings in the one spot, observing its targets below. After a brief moment, Ruby slowly formed a smile on her face.

"I think I've got an idea." The young reaper said confidently. She turned back towards Cecile. "Any chance you can look after Simon for a bit?"

Simon tried to stand and protest, but the damage done to him was finally taking its toll, causing him to collapse again. Cecile quickly grabbed onto him and helped him back to the ground gently. She looked back at Ruby, nodding in response to her request.

"Stay safe." She said.

Ruby nodded, followed by signalling for Blake and Yang to follow her. The three then set off, the brawler having an eager look on her face.

"So, baby sis, What's the plan?" Yang asked Ruby.

"We're going to need Weiss first." Ruby stated.

At that, Yang's face switched from eagerness to pure dread. "I hate the plan already."

…

"This is certainly an interesting development."

Ozpin, Glynda and Gabriel were all still standing by the Cliff-side, observing what was going on at the ruins.

Glynda was in pure shock from what she had seen. Needless to say, seeing a large spider-like creature with a woman's upper had for a head emerging from a pool of blood was not something one would usually expect, even from such a dangerous test like this.

Ozpin looked at the monitor with a face of stone. While he was concerned for their safety, as they had never seen anything like this before, he had a hunch that the odds were in their favor.

Gabriel, meanwhile, looked on at the battle, a look of amusement present on his face as the students were going head to head with Arachnid Queen and a Nevermore Grimm. He even clapped as he saw Jaune and Pyrrha hold off the former with only their shields.

"I must admit, Ozpin." Gabriel started, breaking the silence. "I haven't been this entertained in years."

"Entertained?"

Gabriel turned to see Professor Goodwitch looking at him in disbelief. "You call allowing the children to fend of a giant Nevermore and… and… that 'thing' entertainment!?" she cried, stunned that the vampire didn't seem to care.

"… I didn't think it would need clarification." Gabriel responded, aware of the professor's anger, but simply uncaring.

Before Goodwitch could say anything in response, Ozpin interrupted them both.

"I understand that you're worried, Glynda." The Headmaster started. "I wish to intervene as well. But, I think… no. I KNOW that they have a chance." He pointed at the monitor, more specifically, the young man who had returned from the castle.

Gabriel had told them about the castle and how it had pulled Simon in, believing him to be of value in achieving its goal. Ozpin hadn't reacted, while Glynda waved it off as nonsense… that is until the Arachnid Queen made her appearance.

"How can you expect Mr. Wolfe to be of any help!?" Glynda asked. "He's injured!"

Ozpin narrowed his eyes before speaking. "If I'm right… he won't be for long."

Glynda was left baffled by the statement, while Gabriel watched on, eager to see what was to come.

….

Back at the ruins, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Talia were all fighting close quarters against Modiria, trying to find a weakness that they could exploit. However, they had no such luck, instead they found themselves being worn out from the battle.

Modiria sneered at the initiates. " **The only thing you all are succeeding in… is boring me.** " She stated, taking another wild swing at the teens.

Jaune was sent flying back, landing on his front before tumbling to a stop. Ren, having become more fatigued than the rest of the group, was easily swiped away as well, landing not too far from Jaune. Pyrrha and Talia were the only ones still standing out of the four.

"This doesn't look good." Pyrrha noted, not taking her eyes off of the opponent.

If Talia heard her, she made no response. Instead, she focused on trying to find a weak point in the creature that they could exploit. So far, they had aimed for nearly every part of the creature, only for their attacks to come up short.

" _There has to be a way._ " Talia thought.

She was broken out of her thoughts when something whizzed past her. Pyrrha looked and saw that it was the axe-wielder from before.

Leroy pulled both his axes back and swung with full force, aimed directly for the human part of the arachnid. Before he could, however, the two front legs shot up and blocked his attack. Smirking, the platinum-blond sheathed one of his axes and grabbed onto one of the legs, spiniing around it and readying to swing at her once more.

It was then that Leroy saw fear in the being's eyes.

"Oh yeah, take this!" Leroy said.

He was sure his attack would've worked, had blood suddenly not shoot out of her lacerations and coated her completely. As Leroy's axe struck, it instead bounced off of her, forcing him to jump away, getting some distance between them.

Nora, who had ceased firing grenades after seeing Leroy zooming towards her, yelled out "HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA, JUMPING IN AND HOGGING ALL THE FUN!?"

Leroy turned back and regarded the group present. "The human part's her weakness. She covered herself with some sort of, I don't know, blood armour."

Ren readied his pistols as he spoke. "Despite the arachnid part being strong, the human body is vulnerable without aura." He stated, understanding Leroy's point.

Jaune widened his eyes as he came up with a plan. "That it!" he yelled.

Pyrrha looked over towards him. "What is it, Jaune?"

The blond knight smiled, quite proud of himself for coming up with an idea that could turn the tides. "Well, if I'm right, we're going to need Simon."

…..

"Let me back up, Cecile."

Despite the fox faunus' protest, Simon was trying to get back on his feet and join the fight. He wasn't going to just sit by and let everyone else put their lives on the line.

Cecile, however, wouldn't have any of it. "Not when you're hurt." She stated.

"I've taken worse beatings." Simon said back.

Cecile sighed. She knew Simon to be calm and casual most of the time, but he was also determined when he made his mind up about something. It was that same mind-set that had helped him persevere in his training.

"…" seeing there was no other option, Cecile made a decision in what to do next. "Simon?"

The whipmaster looked up, seeing a look of worry on her face. This confused him slightly. "Cecile? What's wrong?"

She didn't answer. Instead she gently placed a hand on Simon's chest and closed her eyes, causing her aura to flare into existence. A few seconds into this process, Cecile soon began gritting her teeth. This was followed by sweat building up around her forehead and her free hand was gripping the grass.

As this was happening, Simon was awed as he felt the pain fading away, and how he could feel the broken pieces of bone inside of him repairing themselves. He had never seen Cecile use her Semblance before. He assumed that she had a bit of difficulty unlocking it, which wasn't unheard of, even from the most skill Huntsmen and Huntresses. Soon, Simon felt as good as new, looking down as his side as he felt the pain no longer. He looked back towards Cecile, wanting to thank her, when he saw that she was gripping at her side, seeming to tremble.

"… Cecile? Cecile, what's wrong." He asked, now worried.

Cecile smiled. "It's okay. I'll be fine in a few seconds." she said reassuringly. A few seconds later, she stopped trembling and sighed with relief. "There… all fixed now."

Simon looked at his friend in bewilderment. "What… was that?" he asked.

"It's my Semblance." She said. "I can take any pain, defect or injury inflicted on a person as my own, and my body can repair it instantly."

After hearing that, Simon paled in horror." Wh… are you kidding me?" he asked. "Cecile, what if it had been a fatal wound? Your Semblance, it's… it's astonishing." He admitted, amazed that his friend had such a power under her belt. "But it doesn't make you invincible. If the injury was life threatening-"

"I don't care." She interrupted. "It didn't matter, and it won't, so long as I can save those I care about.

"…" Simon was silent as he tried to think of something to rebuttal with. However, instead he sighed, knowing there was no point. If he was in her position, he would do the same thing. He then smiled at her. "You're really something, you know that?"

Cecile was about to respond when they heard the sound of something screeching. They turned and saw the Nevermore from before, evading volleys of ice, fire, lightning and more. They looked and saw that it was Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang all using their weapons to, seemingly, bring the Nevermore down.

Simon turned his head around, catching the rest of the initiates fighting off Modiria, who didn't seem to be tiring out any time soon.

Despite this, Simon formed a toothy grin on his face. He looked back at Cecile and unclipped his whip. "Any chance you remember those whip lessons I gave you?"

Cecile looked back at him, initially surprised. "Huh? Well, yeah, but-"

"Then you can borrow this…" he held the whip to her. "And use it to restrain the Nevermore."

"… Heh?" Cecile asked, bewildered by the idea of restraining a Nevermore THAT big.

Seeing this, Simon chuckled. "Trust me, you've got this." He stated, placing the whip in her hands. With that, Simon got up and rushed towards where the battle against the Arachnid was occurring.

"This is gonna be fun." He said to himself as his aura formed around his right arm.

With great force, he shot himself towards Modiria, the aura gauntlet forming on his arm. The Arachnid Queen seemed ready to attack the group she was fighting, only to turn her head and see the whipmaster zooming towards her.

She wasn't even able to get a word in, before Simon outstretched a leg and, instead of going for her human body, instead went for the lower body. He concentrated more aura into his foot, fortifying it as it crashed into his target. The glowing lower body was shattered open, causing its contents to gush out like a high-pressure fountain.

" **AAAAGGH!** " she cried as she was sent skidding back. As she stopped, she looked behind and saw that the lower body had been obliterated. She turned back and glared at Simon. If looks could kill, Simon would reckon he'd be dead ten times over.

That's just what made it more fun.

" **NOW you have done it, child!** " she roared at him, charging towards him despite her injury. Simon could tell that she was suffering a great deal of pain though.

The whipmaster dodged to the left, avoiding the rampaging arachnid. He was about to lash at the creature when he heard someone shouting.

"SIMON!"

He looked around and saw Jaune waving at him frantically.

"Her human body is her weak spot! But she's forming, uh, some kind of blood amour over her when Leroy tried to hit her!"

Simon looked back, seeing the seething Arachnid Queen glaring daggers at him. He wasn't phased in the slightest, however, as he allowed a small grin.

"Blood armor, huh?" he started. "… Just leave it to me."

With that, Simon charged towards her, eyeing the two front legs. Modiria raised them and attempted to strike him down. However, Simon only dodged them, making his way to the side. Modiria tried to pull her legs out, but found that she had used too much force, and embedded her legs into the ground.

Seeing his opportunity, Simon summoned his aura disc and threw it at said legs, watching as they sliced lean through. As the Arachnid screeched in pain, the disc flew back to Simon, who caught it effortlessly.

Modiria leaned over, unbalanced, allowing Simon to perform his next move. He dashed right up in front of her and, before she could call on the blood of the castle, did something no one expected.

He shoved her aura-coated left hand right down her throat.

"Time for something new." He stated.

With that, his whole body was coated with aura. Modiria tried to pulled her fist out, only for it to be in vain. Simon was proving to be stronger than she believed. As she continued to struggle, she suddenly felt her body, both the human and spider alike, searing with burning pain, travelling across all parts.

Simon used his free hand to shield his eyes, as he had an idea as to what would happen next.

He was proven right when blood shot out from Modiria's lacerations, covering him from head to toe in the crimson liquid.

As that happened, Ren and Pyrrha widend their eyes in shock, Jaune and Leroy looked ready to puke, Taila lowered her brow, while Nora looked on in marvel at the scene, thinking like it was something from a slasher horror film.

"Oh yeah. WWWAAAAY better than special effects." She noted as she recored the scene on her phone.

Simon yanked out his fist and jumped back, gaining distance from him and the creature. Modiria clasped a hand around her throat and looked at Simon in disbelief.

" **What… did… you… do…?** " she asked, struggling to speak as her vocal chords were still recovering.

Simon clicked his fingers and summoned more of his aura. "I fired my aura directly into body, so I'd be able to annihilate the castle's blood."

The last part didn't go unnoticed by Pyrrha. " _Castle's… Blood?_ " she thought.

Simon readied his battle stance as he looked on at the creature. "Let's see how tough you are without the blood backing you up."

With that, Modiria, who looked to be on her last legs at this point, charged at Simon, flailing her human arms at him. When she was close enough, Simon and Modiria grabbed each other's hands and each tried to push the other.

" **You… humiliated me… in the most horrific way possible!** " her eyes suddenly became pure black, her teeth becoming even sharper. " **I will end you… I will tear your carcass to shreds, and feed them to my children, reveling in the suffering you shall endure!** "

Simon gave her one, last cocky grin before saying "I doubt _they'd_ like that."

Modiria was unsure about what he was talking about. It was only a second later that she remembered the other humans. She turned to see most of them pointing their firearms at her… more specifically, the human torso.

"BYE BYE, SPIDYYYY!" Nora cried before they all fired their weapons at the Arachnid.

Modiria tried desperately to pull free, but with Simon having concentrated his aura into his arms, his strength wouldn't allow her to go anywhere.

With that, All Modiria could do was watch as several forms of the dust ammunition traveled through her, tearing the body to shreds in a matter of seconds.

Simon had managed to jump back in time, only realizing after that he was holding the severed hands of the creature. It didn't matter, though, as the hands suddenly disintegrated, leaving nothing in Simon's hands than a handful of ashes each.

Soon after, the large spider body collapsed to the ground, fading away in the same manner as the hands. Simon put both his hands on his hips, staying silent for a moment. He broke it by whistling in surprise, followed by a light laugh.

"Less work for you now… Alucard."

…

Back in the castle, Alucard was continuing to carve through the army of spiders left behind by Modiria. The vampiric swordsman couldn't help but wonder how long it took for her to bare so many offspring. However, it mattered little to him in the end.

While these creatures were weak, they were proving to be a challenge because of the number. It annoyed him to one degree, as he wished to find a way to reach Simon's world, before he was torn to pieces by Modiria.

His patience was starting to wear away. Deciding to end it all, he activated the blue aura around his blade, the Glacium power, readying one of the more powerful moves in his arsenal.

"I will end this here and… what?" Alucard said.

He lowered his sword, deactivating the upcoming attack, as he suddenly saw all the spiders shaking violently, some of them even writhing on their backs. A few seconds later, they all stopped shaking, instead their bodies slowly fade away from existence.

Alucard wasn't sure as to what was happening. The only way they could all be destroyed at once, seeing something similar from past experience, was if the…

At that, Alucard smirked realizing what had caused it. he dispelled the Crissaegrim and walked on, headed towards the exit from this chamber. As he walked, he thought " _It seems I underestimated the boy._ "

Alucard stopped for a moment, lowering his gaze to the ground. He opened up his right hand and stared directly into the palm, seeing the image of a white wolf staring back at him.

Soon after, he lowered his hand and walked on, prepared for whatever the castle would throw at him next.

…

"This… isn't… working!"

Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang were all currently working together to try and take down the Nevermore Grimm. It was easier said than done, however, as the Grimm proved to be quite resilient against the volley of dust rounds sent its way. Combined with the fact that it kept dodging and sent more feathers down their way, it was becoming much more difficult for them.

Ruby had devised a plan to eliminate the Grimm, but they needed to pin it down first.

Weiss looked over at Ruby with a scowl. "Any more 'Bright Ideas' that can help us beat this thing?"

Ruby kept her gaze focused on the lense in the scope, not taking her sights off of the Grimm in question. "No need to sound grouchy." Ruby started.

"I am NOT grouchy!" Weiss yelled back, firing volleys of ice missiles at the Nevermore.

"You had _us_ fooled." Blake quipped as she kept firing at the Nevermore, earning a deeper scowl from the Schnee Heiress.

Ruby sighed as she could only think of a single solution." Someone's gonna have to distract it, bring it down to us."

At that, Yang slammed her fists together and grinned. "Leave it to me, sis." She stated as she soon as she began firing more rounds at the Nevermore. "C'mon, Bird-Brain!" she cried, before firing off several more shots at the Nevermore.

With that, The Nevermore was angered, prompting it to charge at the blond. Yang readied herself, expecting the creature to go all out. However, she was surprised when something flew from the side, striking the creature in one of its eyes, causing to divert and land away from the group.

Yang glared at the Nevermore. "Okay, who stole my thunder!?" she yelled, her eyes turning red.

Her answer was in the form of a blur that rushed past her. Yang spun around and saw, much to her surprise, that it was Cecile who had dashed towards her.

The fox Faunus kept her focus as the Nevermore rose back up. It turned and faced her, one of her boomerangs lodged in her eyes. It was about to take off into the sky, but Cecile reacted first, taking out Simon's whip and lashed out. She was startled by the overall length of the whip, making her wonder briefly how long it took Simon to make it.

She managed to wrap the whip around one of the Grimm's outstretched wings. She pulled the whip back, causing the weapon to tighten around the wing. She felt the Nevermore trying to pull at the whip, trying to get loose. Her training with Simon was proving to be more than fruitful, but her muscles were practically screaming in agony as she tried to resist the creature.

She turned her head around towards the other girls. "Uh, can I get some help here?" she asked.

At that, Ruby looked bashful for a brief moment before replying. "Uh, right! Sorry!" she said before turning to the other girls. "Alright, everyone get ready!"

Blake nodded. She looked and saw Yang having positioned herself. She morphed her weapon back into its sickle form before throwing the end towards Yang. The brawler caught it effortlessly, pulling back on the rope, as did Blake.

Ruby leaped up into the air, landing in the center of the outstretched sickle rope. Weiss then took action, summoning a black glyph, pulling Ruby back.

"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked, now right next to the Schnee Heiress.

"Hmph. Can I." she said sarcastically.

"… Can you?"

"Of course I can!"

Ruby looked back at the Nevermore, narrowing her eyes.

" _Hold on, Cecile._ " Ruby thought.

At that point, Weiss deactivated the Glyph, at the same time Ruby fired several shots from the Crescent Rose, adding to the momentum as she flew through the air. Not taking her eyes off of the Nevermore, Ruby angled her scythe so that she would land the right blow.

As Cecile continued to restrain the Nevermore, despite her being pushed beyond her limit, her head turned to see Ruby flying at the Nevermore. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was trying to do.

"No way… she gonna-"

Before Cecile could finish, Ruby had swung her scythe at the Nevermore's neck, decapitating it from the body completely.

The head was airborne for a few seconds before it came plummeting back down to the ground. Ruby landed not too far away from it, her scythe resting along her shoulders and she knelt on the ground. She slowly stood back up, turning to see the body of the Nevermore collapsing. As it did, Ruby got a clear view of Cecile, who looked close to collapsing.

Ruby gasped. "Cecile!" she cried, before rushing to her side, catching her just before she hit the ground. "Are you okay? I'm sorry I wasn't quick enough."

Cecile looked back up at her, a small smile on her face. "It's fine." She said. "I chose to try and hold it down, wasn't i?"

"Quite a feat, if not foolish."

Ruby and Cecile turned to see Weiss, Blake and Yang walking up to them, the Schnee Heiress having spoken.

Yang put her hands behind her head and looked at he dissolving pieces of the Grimm. "Well… that was a thing."

Blake nodded towards Ruby. "It was a great plan, Ruby." She then turned towards Cecile. "Thank you for your help, Cecile."

Both girls couldn't help but blush at the praise, only for it to fade when they saw that their audience was much larger than they thought.

Jaune, Pyrrha, Leroy and Ren looked at them both with wide-eyed surprise, amazed at what they were both able to accomplish. It took a lot to restrain a Nevermore that big, and being able to decapitate it in such a fashion was far from easy.

Nora, on the other hand, smiled in amazement from the scene. Talia gave them a small nod of acknowledgement, while holding a feint smile on her face. Simon grinned knowingly at the two, having known that those two had a great deal more potential than anyone knew. He _had_ trained one of them after all, while he saw first hand how the other mastered such a difficult weapon fro someone her age.

"Should've bet money on it." Simon said.

….

Later, after the rest of the partners who hadn't retrieved their artifacts acquired them, they all made it back to the Cliff-side, from there making their way back to the school grounds. They were ushered into the auditorium, where Ozpin had set up a screen. On it, were the faces of four of the initiates.

"Russell Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dave Bronzewing and Sky Lark." Ozpin began. "The four of you have recovered the black bishop pieces. From this day forth, you will be known as… Team CRDL (Cardinal). Lead by… Cardin Winchester."

At that, the four boys did a small celebration before stepping off of the stage. As they did, four more stepped up.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you recovered the white rook pieces. From this day forth, you will be known as… Team JNPR (Juniper). Led by… Jaune Arc."

At that, Jaune widened his eyes in shock. "M-Me?"

Ozpin nodded. "Congratulations, young man."

Jaune was still stunned by the News. Pyrrha playfully punched him in the shoulder, happy that he was chosen. However, whether it was because she put too much force into the punch or he simply couldn't handle it, he was knocked off of his feet, much to the amusement of the audience.

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you recovered the white knight pieces. From this day forth, the four of you will be known as… Team RWBY (Ruby). Lead by… Ruby Rose."

At that, Ruby widened her eyes, just as stunned by the news as Jaune was, only she didn't say anything. Weiss seemed bewildered by the news, Blake smiled approvingly, while Yang went over to her sister and hugged her, more proud of her than the young reaper could imagine.

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang stated happily.

Soon after they managed to pry Yang off of their new leader, four more individuals stepped up.

"Cecile Adams, Leroy Jones, Talia Strange and Simon Wolfe. The four of you recovered the black knight pieces. From this day forth, you will be known as… Team CSTL (Castle)."

Simon raised an eyebrow at that, as it seemed to deviate from the traditional color coding for the teams. However, he didn't voice any protests.

"Led by… Cecile Adams."

At that, Cecile's eyes widened and her ears pointed up. She tried to speak, but the surprise caused her throat to dry up.

Simon was happy to see that Cecile was given the position. While he was a good fighter, he never considered himself a leader. He looked at the other two, seeing Talia nodding approvingly, while Leroy was giving her two thumbs up.

After the initiation, Simon and Leroy were made partners, since they were the only two to have not found partners during the initiation. Neither minded though, seeing that they both thought that the other seemed decent enough.

Standing away from Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch looked at the newly formed team CSTL. The boy, Mr. Wolfe, proved to be more capable than she thought. He took down a Deathstalker Grimm by himself, a rare site to see, and he displayed great power when fighting that… that monster from before. The very memory of it sent shivers down her spine.

After remembering that giant spider, her memory flashed back to the vampire in the red coat. After seeing Mr. Wolfe weaken the creature, he had simply said he had 'seen all he needed to see', and left. She tried asking Ozpin what that had all been about, only to hear him say that 'she'll see soon enough'.

Ozpin could be more than infuriating sometimes.

….

"Man, what a day."

After the ceremony, Simon decided to break away from the crowd. After the hectic day, he needed a breather. He was now resting out beside the statue in the courtyard, looking up into the sky. The sun was setting, creating a pleasant looking display of art in the sky.

Simon sighed before saying "How long are you going to hide there?"

A couple of seconds later, a red cloud appeared beside Simon, which quickly morphed into the vampire Simon released.

"You sound unhappy to see me." Gabriel noted.

Simon eyed the vampire with a suspicious gaze. This caused the vampire to grin.

"Very well." He said. "I will leave you in peace… but first…"

Gabriel put a hand into his coat and pulled something out. Simon widened his eyes when he saw what it was that the vampire revealed.

"Wha… how did you get that?" Simon asked, seeing the Vampire Killer in the being's hand.

The vampire smiled. "I took the liberty of retrieving it shortly you left for Beacon." He said, holding out the weapon towards Simon. "I thought you would've brought it with you."

Simon snatched the weapon from him. "I didn't want anyone else finding out about it." he said. "If what you said about it is true, then I couldn't let it fall into the wrong hands." He said.

Gabriel regarded the boy for a moment before turning away. "… In any case, you hid it rather well. You know how to keep things hidden… especially the torments you endure and hide to this day."

At that, Simon felt a shiver travel through his entire body. He looked back up at Gabriel, only to see that the vampire had vanished. Simon sat silently for a moment before deciding that he should meet up with his team.

As he walked, he clipped the weapon to his side, remembering something that Gabriel had talked about. The three gifts. One to allow aura usage when in an environment related to Dracula's world, which failed Simon in the castle. It must only work in Remnant. The second gift, the Vampire Killer, which was supposed to help take down enemies from the castle, which he still couldn't figure out how to activate it.

And the third gift… the undiscovered one.

" _Is he really trying to help us… or is he playing us for some other agenda?_ " he thought with frustration.

He shook his head, trying to remove those thoughts from his mind for now. for now, he would meet up with his team. They would learn how to be the best Huntsmen and Huntresses they could be.

"Hopefully, this will be an interesting year."

 **Hi Everyone, hope all's well with yourselves.**

 **I decided to change things around for the main fight of the initiation, choosing to add the Castlevania twist. I thought it would be a good follow up, since there wasn't much Castlevania-style stuff in Remnant at the time. Well, after this chapter, i'm going to try and marge the two a bit more and get a lot more creative with it. Hope you'll enjoy it.**

 **And, in case anyone is still unsure, Simon Wolfe is NOT Simon Belmont. I only named Wolfe after him since he was one of my favorite characters, that's all.**

 **And, in case anyone asks about the Wolf Medallion, i thought i'd give it a few more uses, since i found it to be a little... I don't know, 'restrictive' in LoS 2.**

 **Also, I was told that i made an error when writing about Yang's gauntlets in Chapter 1, for which, i apologize. I assumed they were rocket launchers at the time because, in the show, they had one hell of a range, and in the character for for Yang for Vloume 5, the shots she fired were more like missiles than shotgun rounds. That, and i only watched the show at the time i first published the story, i didn't think to look into as much detail as i should've. I'll try and be more careful next time.**

 **Finally... actually, i won't say anymore about what's to come. I think i'll leave the rest as surprises. I'll just say that I'll be moving over to Fairy Tail: Dark Void now.**

 **Nevertheless, Thank you everyone who reviewed and/or gave me your thoughts on the story. It's been fairly helpful.**

 **Right, with that done, I'll think i'll sign off. Have a nice day, don't forget to review and I'll see you later ;-)**


	8. First Day issues

"Ugh… my head."

The night after all the first year teams had been formed, Teams RWBY, CSTL and JNPR all got together and held a small celebration. Yang had tried to get some booze for the party, wanting to try and liven things up. However, Ruby and Simon both convinced her to get rid of it.

Not only did they not like the idea of bringing alcohol when they were still underage, but since both got a first-hand glance at how severe Professor Goodwitch, they would rather do all they can to avoid that.

Still, even without the alcohol, the next morning, Leroy and Cecile both woke up with strong headaches after having had too much candy.

"What… time is it?" Cecile asked, her fox ears resting on her head and her hair disheveled.

"Seven."

Leroy and Cecile both turned their heads, seeing Talia and Simon sitting on their beds, both dressed in uniform. Talia was listening to music with one earpiece in her right ear, while Simon was drawing on a piece of paper, his tongue unintentionally sticking out like a child working on a coloring book.

After hearing what time it was, Leroy flopped back onto the bed. "Five more minutes. Please." He said, hoping that Simon and Talia would give him a break.

However, instead, Leroy had a bucket's worth of water splashed onto him. This certainly woke him up, prompting him to sit up instantly, looking side to side frantically, spitting out some of the water. He then looked forward and saw Talia standing in front of him, bucket in hand and a blank expression.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Leroy roared, not liking how he was woken up.

"We agreed that we'd wake up early today." She said calmly.

"I NEVER AGREED TO ANYTHING!" Leroy pointed out angrily.

"Three to one, dude. Majority Rules." Simon pointed out.

Seeing how they had just moved in, the members worked together to try and organize their space. Seeing how there wasn't enough space for the beds, for example, they had decided to make bunk beds so that there was more space on the ground. Thankfully, Leroy was an adept woodworker, and had used that skill to make the beds, which had wooden frames, to make secure and stable bunk beds. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride over the admiration that was sent his way.

Other than that, there wasn't much decorating done to their room. Simon left some of his drawing materials on one of the desks provided, Cecile put up a poster that had a picture of a baby dragon flying through the air (Which had Simon and Leroy bewildered) and Talia had set up a flower vase and put some roses in it.

Talia turned to Cecile, who's ears now stood up, seeing the bucket in Talia's hands.

"Need some help getting up?" Talia asked, raising the bucket up."

"Uh-no, no thanks. Getting up right now." Cecile said as she rolled out of the bed. She hastily went to her dresser and pulled out her uniform. Soon after dashing into the bathroom to change, Talia turned to Leroy and Simon, who both shared the same bunk beds, simon above while Leroy stayed low.

"I'm going to have a walk around the campus." She said as she picked up her schoolbag. "See you in class."

With that, Talia exited the room, gently closing the door as she left. After she had gone, Leroy leaped from the bed and went to his dresser, hoping to find a towel to dry himself off.

"Geez, what the hell is that girl's deal?" an irate Leroy asked. "She could've just shook me awake or something." He said, stull unhappy with her tactic of getting him out of the bed.

Simon shrugged his shoulders as he continued to draw. "Well, it woke you up, right?"

As Leroy found a towel, he began drying his hair, turning and looking up at Simon. "Oh yeah? Well how did she wake you up, huh?"

"Woke up before her, actually." Simon said. "Wasn't liking the idea of what she might do, so I thought it best to avoid it."

At that, Leroy lowered his towel and shook his head. "Man." He just simply said. His eyes then widened when a terrible thought occurred to him. "Oh damn. She's not gonna do it EVERY morning, is she?" he asked, a look of terror on his face.

Simon shook his head. "No, it's just so that we can find the best time to be organised. We go to class, see how long it takes us, so we can find a happy medium for later on." sImon explained. He then looked over to Leroy. "Not my idea, by the way."

"Well who's was it?" Leroy asked.

The door to the bathroom opened, revealing Cecile, showered and dressed for the day. Leroy and Simon both turned to her, both initially surprised. The latter was especially surprise, as well as sporting a blush on his face, which Simon noticed with a Yang-worthy cheeky smile.

"… Wow…" Leroy simply said. "You… um… you…"

"You look really pretty, Cecile." Simon said. "To voice what our resident axe wielder is wanting to say."

After hearing that, a light blush appeared on Cecile's face, while Leroy's entire face became pure scarlet. The axe-wielder tried to protest, but his words only came out as stutters.

"U-uh, I-uh-buuuh…" was all that he was able to say.

Cecile, while initially embarrassed by what Simon had revealed, she couldn't help but smile. She wouldn't receive many compliment from anyone other than her parents, Simon and the Xiao Long family. Her Faunas heritage made it difficult to do so.

"… Thanks, Leroy." She said.

Leroy had tried to regain his cool, keeping a blank expression, but his face was still red. "No probs." He responded.

Simon put down his pencil and jumped off his bunk, stretching his shoulder muscles. "Well, we can't stay here all day." He started. "I'm going to head over to the cafeteria to see what's there to eat. Wanna come with?"

Cecile shook her head. "No thanks, I'm going to head straight over to the classroom."

"WHAT!?" Leroy cried. "But we've got lots of time before that!"

"I know, I just want to make sure we've got everything we need to make sure we're organised, you know." She said before dashing off.

"… Wait…" Leroy turned to Simon with a look of disbelief on his face. "It was HER idea!?" he cried.

Simon couldn't answer immediately, as he was trying hard to fight the laughter from seeing Leroy's facial expression. He gave is response after finally managing to calm down.

"Yeah, she likes to be super sure of everything." He explained. "Something we're going to have to help her with later on."

Leroy grumbled a bit before picking up his uniform and walking straight into the bathroom. Letting off a slight chuckle, Simon made his way to the door, exiting the room and slowly walking over to the cafeteria, hands in his pockets and whistling as he made his way over.

"So, we've only got Grimm studies today, huh?" Simon said outloud after a bit more whistling. "Heard the professor's supposed to be a master of the subject. Hope it's pretty interesting."

…..

After a trip to the cafeteria, where Simon helped himself to another hefty amount of syrup-coated waffles, he made his way over to the classroom where he was supposed to be. When he left, he was given several looks of amazement from the rest of the students. There wasn't as many people who could eat that much.

Simon was able to consume large quantities of food because of his aura usage. It burns his energy quickly, meaning he would need keep eating to replenish his energy. And since he has been training with his aura a lot to gain better control, and to gain further mastery over it, his apparent gluttony will go on… hopefully not for long.

"Yum-yum." Simon said happily as he made his way to the classroom. "Gotta try those pancakes next time I'm there though."

Simon looked at his watch, stopping when he saw that there was still around an hour until class started. Deciding that there was no point in sitting in the room until the start of class, he decided to have another walk around, see if there was of anything interesting.

His attention was diverted when he heard the sound of people laughing… and it wasn't a pleasant laugh either.

"What the…?" Simon hastily moved to see what was going on. He turned a corner, seeing four people standing over someone, someone holding a hand over her head.

"Ha! What a freak." One of them said.

"Think they're real?" another asked.

"Let's find out." A third said.

One of the four people reached down, his position moving enough to see that the fallen person had rabbit ears on her head. In that split second, Simon dashed forward, grabbing onto the wrist of the person in question.

"Wh-What the!" the person in question looked at Simon. "Who the hell are you!?"

Simon's eyes narrowed. He recognized this person. Cardin Winchester, one of the new teams formed after the initiation. Team CRDL. Simon's eyes quickly went to the other members, each one looking at the Whipmaster like he was a joke. The leader, meanwhile, looked at Simon like he was some kind of insect.

"Leave her alone." Simon stated.

After a moment of silence, the members of Team CRDL laughed at Simon.

"Look here, guys, we got ourselves a freak lover." Cardin said, pulling his hand free from Simon's grasp.

"That actually pretty funny." Another one of them said, making the other two laugh.

Cardin gave Simon a smug look. "What? You think you can tell us what to do?"

Simon's expression didn't change as he spoke. "If I have to."

At that, the leader of Team CRDL looked at Simon with a look of confusion. It was like it was baffling to him that anyone would be trying to stand up to him. The typical school bully.

Simon didn't give the Leader any chance. His knee shot up to the bully's chin, sending him him flying into the air. As he was about to land, Simon spun around and shot a foot out, landing it on the small of his back, sending Cardin flying down the hall.

His team members all saw their leader flying, slack-jawed at how effortlessly this guy did it. They turned back, just in time to see his foot spinning around, slamming into the three heads in a single motion. All three were sent into the same wall, creating multiple cracks and leaving them all dazed.

Simon looked back at their victim, seeing her looking at the Whipmaster with slight awe. Simon knelt down and gave her a friendly smile.

"Hey. You okay?" he asked.

The girl nodded. "Th-Thank you." She started. "There aren't many people who would stand up for the Faunus."

Simon shrugged his shoulders. "We're all people, right? So, we stand up for each other"

At that, Velvet's eyes were widened. It was rare for anyone to act like that. Her Teammates were some of the exception, but nonetheless it was always a shock for her. She was about to say something, but instead a frightened gasp came from her mouth as well.

Having a feeling as to what caused it, Simon spun around, landing a kick to the now-present Cardin's face. As he was sent flying back, Simon grabbed onto his foot, pulled him back, grabbed him by the throat, and threw him into the wall behind.

"UGH!" Cardin cried.

Simon gave Winchester a cruel grin. "Hurts, doesn't it?" he started. "But let me tell you something. It's nowhere near the kind of pain that people like this girl had to endure because of morons like you!"

"What? You think she's a person? She's an animal! A Fre-"

" **DON'T!** "

Simon's aura flared to life all around his body, his grip increasing around Cardin's throat, making the Leader of Team CRDL gag from his airflow getting cut off.

" **Don't you call her… don't you call ANYONE that! Or so help me I will tear out your guts and make you swallow them whole, over and OVER! GOT IT!?** "

"…" Cardin's face was now one of terror. Through his desperate gaps for air, he could see the level of anger that Simon had, his eyes nearly glowing with hatred. Not wanting to inspire more fury in this guy, Cardin did his best to nod in agreement to Simon's demands.

In response, Simon's aura faded away, his face now showing a calmer, but assertive look. "Good." He then released Cardin, allowing Cardin the time to get his breathing back under control. "Now get lost."

With that, Cardin scampered away like the coward he really was, leaving his teammates behind.

As Simon watched him go, he felt something on his shoulder. He turned around to see that it was the girl, who had a worried expression on her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"…" Simon was having difficulty trying to voice what he was feeling. After a second, he sighed before giving his answer. "I… lost my temper there. It happens when I see people getting picked on. When someone is being treated unfairly."

The girl nodded in understanding. "Still… you stood up for me. That means a lot."

"I should probably try to reign it in next time though." Simon commented, his grin slowly returning to his face.

The girl giggled slightly. "Perhaps." Her eyes then widened, as if having just remembered something. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina."

"Velvet… cute name." Simon said, prompting a blush from her. "The name's Simon Wolfe."

"It's nice to meet you Si… wait. THE Simon Wolfe!?" she asked, now stunned.

The Whipmaster raised an eyebrow. "I'm not famous, am I?"

Velvet clapped her hands together and did a small jump, the excitement clearly building up in her. "How can you _not_ be? Everyone heard about how you went head on against a new beast that wasn't a Grimm, and was said to be invulnerable!"

"It was only a couple of days ago, and only three teams were there. How does everyone know about this?" Simon asked, still bewildered.

"Oh, that's because-"

"Whoa, hold a moment!"

Simon tilted his head to see Velvet's watch. He saw that he had about ten minutes to get to Grimm studies, seeming to have passed more time here than he thought.

Bringing his head back into position, he rubbed the back of his head with a nervous smile. "Sorry Velvet, have to run. Grimm studies."

Soon Velvet had a worried expression on her face. "Grimm studies?" she asked in an equally worried tone.

"Uh… yeah. Is something wrong with it?"

"… Umm… good luck in it." Was all Velvet could think to say. "See you later."

With that, Velvet walked down the hall, waving Simon goodbye as she did. After Simon waved in kind, he began sprinting to his designated classroom, Velvet's vague warning still going through his head.

"Good luck? What does that mean?"

….

"Monsters. Demons. Prowlers of the night. Yes the creatures of Grimm are known by many names. However, I merely refer to them as PREY. Ha-ha!"

" _Oh… so this is what she meant._ "

After Simon made it to the classroom with five minutes to spare, he found the rest of his teammates sitting in the front row. Soon after he joined them, where Leroy was asking if he could look in with Simon because he forgot his, Teams RWBY and JNPR came into the room, both looking like they had just run marathons.

Fortunately, they had made it just on time, so no one got in trouble… at least, that was the idea.

The one giving the lecture was Professor Peter Port, sporting neatly combed hair and mustache, a red suit with gold linings and dress shoes. He seemed to know his stuff, seeing drawing and writing up notes on different Grimm. However, when he spoke, he seemed more interested in telling stories of his days as a fully active Huntsman.

This didn't help with the attention of the students. Out of everyone, the only three that seemed to be attention were Cecile, Ren and Weiss. Although, the latter seemed to be having her own difficulty in paying attention, not because of how the Professor droned on. Rather it was because Ruby was doing several things to entertain herself, from drawing doodles to balancing things on her head. The Ice Queen didn't seem too happy with her behavior, while Yang found it hilarious and Blake just shook her head with a smile before going back to reading a novel she had hidden behind a textbook.

The rest of the teams seemed to be having their own issues. Simon, mainly, kept bobbing his head up and down as he struggled to stay awake. Part of him was wishing that he had taken extra caution from Velvet's warning, but at least he'd know for next time.

Eventually, he head lowered, falling into a deep sleep.

…

 _Simon's eyes slowly opened, still feeling groggy._

 _Part of him was still in complete surprise. He faced off against Grimm, criminals, even fought off against monsters that would outrank imagination in the terror department. Yet, he was bested by the Professor and incredibly boring teaching style. Now, he had heard that teachers could be quite boring, but to think that it could go to that extent._

 _He brushed a hand through his hair and yawned, thanking whatever gods were out there that he only had one class today. As his vision re-focused, be looked around to see if there were any survivors._

 _Much to his surprise, he wasn't in the lecture room anymore. Instead he found himself in, what looked like, an old theater hall. He looked behind him, seeing a stage, mostly covered by bright-red curtains. Looking around, he saw that several parts of the hall looked worn and damaged. There seemed to be large pieces of metal across the floor, each looking like pieces of armor._

 _Simon rose from the chair and table he seemed to be resting at, walking around to see what was going on exactly. After a moment of turning his head, curious to see what was here, his eyes caught the sight of something shining in a dark corner._

" _Huh?" Simon said out loud, curious to see what exactly was there._

" _N-NO! PLEASE, STOP!"_

 _Simon whirled around, taking up his battle stance. He saw, much to his surprise, a short, elderly man, wearing tinted spectacles and dressed in a flamboyant tutor-like outfit. He ran past Simon screaming, making Simon wonder what was going on._

" _Over there! Seize him!"_

 _Simon turned back around, seeing two people dressed in silver armor, armed with longswords. Simon had to admit, as an artist, he was impressed with the armor design. However, thanks to his own aura, he was able to tell that there was… something dark about them. It was similar to that he felt from Cardin._

 _It made Simon guess that these soldiers were nothing but bullies._

" _Hey, just what are you guys-"_

 _Simon had marched forward, with the intent of learning what these knights were intending with the elder. As he did, however, he ended up phasing through the soldiers. Simon looked back, watching as the knights continued forward, seeming to not have noticed him at all._

 _Simon looked at his hands, confused as to what was going on. He looked up again, seeing the elder trying to scamper away, only to stop when one of the knights pointed their sword at his throat._

" _Quit moving, you old COD!" the knight said._

" _I… I am so sorry." The elder said, holding up an arm in defense, afraid for his life._

 _After a few seconds, the knight lowered his sword and grabbed the man by the arm. Despite the elder's protests, the knight kicked the elder, pushing him forward. The elder had fallen to the ground, yelping in fear and pain, prompting the knights to laugh._

" _Look at him. To think he's the mad man we're looking for." The other knight said._

" _Like a frightened lamb." The first knight spoke. "Well, he'll soon bow down to the might of our Shepherd."_

 _The first knight raised his sword into the air. Looking up, the elder saw the knight, forcing him to scream in fear and hold his arms out._

" _No, no, NO! STOP!" Simon yelled, unable to help as the knight brought the sword down._

…

Simon woke with a startle.

After he woke, he hold that he was resting on the table, his arms acting as pillows for his head. He sat up, turning his head from side to side, wondering what the heack had happened. Thar dream seemed so… real.

"Finally awake?"

Simon turned to his right, seeing Talia and Cecile giving him knowing smiles.

The Whipmaster grinned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wow. That lecture was something else."

"True." Talia pointed out. "Then again you should've done something to keep yourself awake." She said.

Simon gave a small chuckle before responding. "I'll keep that in mind." He said. He then looked around, frowning slightly when he saw that Leroy wasn't there. "Where'd Leroy go?"

As if to answer the question, the team heard the sound of the door opening, turning to see Both Weiss and Leroy entering the room. He saw that they were both dressed in their combat gear.

"… Why are they…"

"The professor asked who thought they had the quality of a Huntsman, and both Weiss and Leroy said they did. Weiss, I think, said it just to blow off steam, while Leroy's excited to show his strength." Talia explained.

Cecile leaned forward, trying to get a better view of Simon. "Professor Port originally was going to use a Grim for the student that volunteered, but since both Weiss and Leroy volunteered, he decided to let them fight each other."

Simon nodded in approval. "Sounds better to me. We're so used to fighting Grimm at this stage, better to fight an opponent that's able to do a lot more thinking."

They looked back at the front of the room, where both students looked ready for battle, Weiss pointing her Rapier forward, while Leroy crossed his arms, holding his axes in a reverse grip.

"Alright, Leroy!" Cecile cheered.

"Best of luck." Talia said.

"Be sure to watch your back!" Simon added.

Leroy looked back at his team, nodding in understanding. "Thanks guys, you're the best!"

Meanwhile with Team RWBY, Weiss was being given support.

"C'mon, Weiss, show him what you've got!" Yang yelled.

"Fight well." Blake said, holding a flag the read 'Team RWBY' on it.

"Alright Weiss, represent Team RWBYYYYYY!"

Weiss snapped her head towards her leader and partner. "Ruby! I'm trying to focus!"

Ruby slowly sunk back into her seat, feeling a little upset by her teammate's words. "Oh… okay."

This most certainly didn't go unnoticed by Yang, you glared at the Heiress with her red eyes. Simon, however, kept a blank expression on his face, but he wouldn't deny the surprise and annoyance he was feeling. The only reason he held it in was because it would only make things worse.

"And… BEGIN!"

Weiss summoned her glyphs, using them to dash forward. She lunged at him with her blade, aiming for the center of his chest. When she was close, though, Leroy seperated his arms, ducking underneath the Heiress and rolling away, standing up when the Heiress landed on the ground.

Taking the opportunity, Leroy dashed up to the Heiress, moving his axes in sync as he tried to land some hits on her. Weiss was able to dodge most of the hits, but had received one or two blows to her arms. Eventually, she managed to swipe at his head, forcing him to back away to avoid the attack.

The Heiress then summoned a glyph underneath Leroy, before sticking Myrtenaster into the ground, the revolver chamber spinning until it came to a stop at the blue setting. In a second, Leroy was trapped in a block of ice.

"Oh COME ON!" Simon said, outstretching his arms in disbelief.

"YEAH! Show him who's boss, Weiss!" Ruby cheered to Weiss.

The Schnee Heiress looked back at Ruby with a glare, irritated that the younger girl's voice. She had half the nerve to go up to her and point Myrtenaster directly at her face.

"Oh, I wouldn't lose my focus, if I were you." Port suddenly said.

As if to follow, the ice that had encased Leroy suddenly shattered, sending fragments towards Weiss at top speed. The Heiress used her Glyph to jump high into the air, avoiding the projectiles. After landing on the ground, she saw that Leroy had morphed his weapon into the grenade launcher. Seemingly, he wasn't going to use it, but he needed to hold his weapon with one hand as he was brushing off some ice shavings.

Leroy looked back at the girl with a smug grin. "That all you got?"

Irritated further, Weiss Dashed forward, wanting to end it quickly. As she came close, Leroy quickly squatted to the floor, lightly patting the floor, his hand faintly glowing as he did so. When she was close enough, Leroy sheathed one of his axes, holding the other in his left hand, which he used to block the blade of the Schnee's weapon.

"Don't test me, you insufferable-"

"You sure? You look in need of a little testing." Leroy interrupted.

As their weapons were interlocked, he looked own at where he patted the ground, a grin forming on his face. Using his free hand, he clicked his fingers, followed by bright, yellow circle appearing underneath the both of them.

Seeing the light, Weiss pulled her blade away and performed a back flip. Leroy had also taken a few steps back. When they were out of the way, the spot where the circle was exploded.

"Whoa!" Simon said, holding up a text book as a shield. Surprisingly, it blocked a plank of wood that came his way.

Ruby widened her eyes, unsure of what was going on. However, after thinking of what it could've been, her eyes suddenly widened in realization.

"Weiss! WEISS! Leroy's semblance allows him to-"

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"

At Weiss' loud request, Ruby ceased to speak, albeit with a pained and hurt expression on her face.

Leroy, on the other hand, looked at her with pure anger on his face. "HEY! What are you doing!? You're leader was trying to help you!" he exclaimed.

"I don't need _her_ help." Weiss said back, summoning a glyph behind her.

Leroy, the anger still showing on his face, sheathed his other axe. He then motioned for Weiss to come at him. Thinking that he was trying to mess with her, Weiss shot forward, expecting an easy win. However, Leroy managed to expertly dodge Weiss' attacks. Every slash and stab was met with nothing but air as she tried to hit the surprisingly dexterous Huntsman in training.

"Let's end this!" Leroy yelled, landing a palm strike to Weiss' stomach. This caused the Huntress to stumble back a few feet, only to look up and see Leroy pulling out one of his axes, looking ready to pounce.

Weiss, instinctively, held up her sword in defense. Just what Leroy was hoping for.

"I win, Ice Queen." He said, clicking his fingers.

At that. A familiar yellow circle appeared where Leroy landed the palm strike on Weiss. Before the Heiress could do anything, Leroy clicked his fingers, causing the circle to explode, shattering Weiss' aura and causing her to fall to the floor, too worn out to even move.

"… What… what did… you do?" she managed to ask.

Ruby then stood up, waving her arms. "That's what I was trying to tell you, Weiss! I figured out that Leroy can create explosions just by touching something, making them bombs!" she yelled. "I figured it out after I saw how the floor blew up."

Cecile looked at Leroy with amazement. "Seriously? Why didn't you say so?"

"You didn't ask?" Leroy responded, genuinely confused by Cecile's question.

"Ha-HAAAA!"

All the students in the room jumped after suddenly hearing Port's voice, all having forgotten that he was here.

"That was impressive, young man. You truly have the makings of a fine Huntsman in training." He said. He then turned his head towards Weiss. "Miss Schnee, I hope that you will learn from this, and also learn to listen to advice when it is being given to you."

At that, Weiss' eyes nearly popped out of her head with anger. She sheathed Myrtenaster and stormed out of the classroom. As she did, Leroy had turned to see Ruby. Concerned, he went to check on Ruby.

"Hey. You okay, red?" he asked her.

Ruby looked out the door, wondering where Weiss had gone to. She had contemplated checking to see what was wrong, when she saw Simon trying to sneak off.

"Uh-what?" she said, looking back towards a worried looking Leroy. "OH! Uh, no Leroy. I'm okay, thanks for asking though." She said

Leroy didn't seem convinced. However, out of respect, he let the matter drop and returned to his seat.

As soon as he did, the bell rang, indicating that the class was over.

"That's all the time we have for today. Be sure to go over the assigned reading. And remember… 'Stay Vigilant." Port said to the students as they walked out the door.

…

Weiss was furious as she was making her way back to her dorm. Not only had she had to put up with her so called 'Leader's' antics, but she was publicly defeated by some brute. She gritted her teeth in anger over the thought.

" _Why is this happening!? I've worked so hard to get where I am now. And yet it looks like its all being taken away!_ " she thought.

"Having trouble?"

Weiss immediately jumped at the sound of the voice. She turned around, only to frown upon seeing the partner of the man who defeated her.

"And what do you want?" Weiss asked, with both her hands on her hips.

"… Oh, what _do_ I want?" Simon asked Rhetorically. "Ideas to improve my weapon, art supplies… knowing when the next issue of 'Camp Camp' will be coming out…"

At that one left Weiss confused, as she had never heard of the comic.

"But for now…" Simon's face formed a slight frown. "I'd settle for you apologizing to Ruby."

After hearing that, Weiss looked appalled by those words. Soon, her scowl had returned as she looked directly into the eyes of the Whipmaster.

"You want me to apologize to HER!?" she cried. "She should be apologizing to _me_! Ever since she became team leader, all she's done since she came here is act childish!"

Simon raised an eyebrow. "Schnee, Ruby's fifteen years old. I don't know how the age system works over in Atlas, but here, I'm pretty sure it means that she _is_ a kid."

"Did you not _see_ what she was doing during the class!?" Weiss cried. "She was acting so immature with-"

"I know what she was doing, Weiss." Simon interrupted. "And yes, it wasn't the best thing to be doing during a class. But like I said, she's a kid. You can't expect her to grow up just like that." Simon said, snapping his fingers at the last word for emphasis.

"Now you listen here." Weiss stated, now poking Simon's chest. "I've trained hard. I've _studied_ extensively to get this far. And yet she's done NOTHING to earn her position!"

"You mean aside from coming up with a strategy to successfully behead a Nevermore _while_ saving another one of the initiates, all while intending to ensure said initiate's safety?" Simon asked.

"She just got lucky. If I was team leader I'd-"

"So that's what this is about." Simon interrupted, looking not so pleased at the Heiress right now. "Look, Weiss, I can tell that you worked like heck to here. But the thing is, you weren't the only one. And for the record, being a good fighter and a workaholic doesn't make you a good leader."

Weiss looked surprised by this statement. But before she could get a chance to think about it, Simon had one more point to make.

"Look, Weiss. I actually knew a few kids growing up who were from well-off families. They got some nice stuff, they had all the pleasures that we _commoners_ can only dream of. While most were as much as a pain in the backside as you…" he saw Weiss' eyes widen in offense "There were one or two that were some of the best people I met. They were different because they appreciated everything they had, and worked hard to show that appreciation by helping where they can. Volunteering, donations, the works."

Simon clapped his hands together. "And _that_ … is what you need to understand, Weiss. Don't fret over what you don't have, and learn all the things that you have _gained_ since coming here." He pointed out. "You becoming a student here, a place to train and get out of your comfort zone, so many people to make friends, and you got included into a team."

Seeing Weiss face form into a look of mindfulness, Simon walked up closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't focus on being a team leader. Instead, try and learn to become the best teammate, the best _person_ you can be."

"… The best person…" Weiss said. She then looked towards Simon. "… I… I need to go."

With that, Weiss turned around and walked off, left pondering on what he had said.

As Simon watched her walk off, a small grin formed on his face. He turned his head slightly to his left before speaking.

"You there long?" he asked.

From behind one of the pillars, a certain red-cloaked reaper made herself known, a look of uncertainty on her face as she made eye contact with the reaper.

"You gave her a lot to think about, huh?" Ruby asked.

Simon gave her a nod. "She needs to learn that things won't always go her way. Though I thought I'd, you know, broaden the spectrum so that she'd had the 'know-how' to better herself."

"…" Ruby was silent for a moment. Before Simon could ask what was wrong, Ruby immediately asked "Was it a mistake?"

Simon raised an eyebrow. "Was what as mistake?" he asked.

"… Me becoming team leader."

Simon shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think so." He said.

"Well, you're my friend and you'd try to suppor-"

"Ruby." Simon said seriously. "Believe me, if I didn't think you weren't capable of being a leader, I'd say so. You know how up front I can be about things that upset me."

Ruby pondered on this for a moment, before eventually agreeing to what he said. "Okay… but… how are you so sure?"

Simon gave Ruby a small smile before speaking. "Ruby… what do you think makes a good leader?"

"…" that question left Ruby stumped. She tried silently to come up with an answer, but she was having no luck.

Seeing this, Simon thought he'd give his answer. "For me, a good… no, a _great_ leader, isn't about being the strongest, the bravest, or the most skilled. It's about caring for your teammates." He said.

"You, ya little red cloaked cookie monster…" he started, getting a small laugh from Ruby. "Care about the safety and well being of others. Even if it was a minute problem, you'd go to the ends of the earth to make sure that it was sorted, and that they wouldn't have anything to worry about. You look out for them… which is the main quality of being a leader."

Ruby fiddled with her hands as she felt another build up of dread. "But… what if I make the wrong decision. What if I cause more problems than-"

Ruby stopped speaking when Simon placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see a pair of determined looking eyes. The same kind she saw when Simon had a goal, and would strive towards the end of the earth to achieve.

"I get it, Rubes. You've been given a pretty big burden. But the thing about leadership… it's not something you're born with. It's a skill that you have to learn as you grow." He pointed out. "If you make a mistake, you accept the consequences, learn from it and move on. You can't learn otherwise, right?"

Ruby soaked in Simon's words. She had been worried, especially after Weiss' yelling, that she wouldn't be fit for the role. However, her friend's words did at least give her another perspective. If she was going to be a great leader, then she'd need to work at it. But at least, she can prove that she can become a good leader.

No… she _will_ prove that she can be a _super_ leader.

She looked up at her friend. "Thanks, Simon… I owe you big time."

Simon ruffled Ruby's hair, much to the reaper's slight annoyance. "Just try not to let anyone walk over you next time."

Simon lowered his hand, allowing Ruby to nod her head. "No prob. See you."

With that, Ruby jogged down the hall to wherever she planned to go. Seeing as how there were no other classes for now, Simon decided to head back to his dorm.

Before he could take a step, however, he felt a sharp pain go through his head. As this happened, he collapsed onto his knees, yelling in pain and clutching his head as several images popped into his head. The most prominent was one of the man he saw in his dream, seeming to beg for his life.

" _PLEASE! PLEASE, NO MORE I BEG OF Y-AAAAAAGGGH!_ "

Simon gritted his teeth as the tried to fight off the pain. However, this only served to intensify the pain even more.

"SIMON!"

The Whipmaster turned his head to see Ruby and Jaune standing standing behind him, with a look of horror and worry on their faces. It looked like Ruby had heard his screams and checked to see what was wrong. Simon wasn't sure why Jaune was present, but he was really wishing that he wasn't.

"Guys… go… now…" Simon managed to say, the pain slowly blurring his train of thought.

"Simon, what's wrong?" Jaune asked as he ran to his ally, with Ruby right beside him. Both knelt down beside him as they tried to help.

Ruby placed a hand on his shoulder. "Simon…" she asked, her tone wavering out of worry. "Simon, tell us what's wrong." She begged.

"I… I…" Simon's head then snapped up. The pain was present, but did his best to annoy it when he realized something. "He's in trouble…"

At that, both Ruby and Jaune looked at him in confusion.

"W-who's in trouble?" Ruby asked.

Simon didn't answer. Instead, he quickly stuffed a hand into his pocket and pulled out a familiar looking medallion.

"Take me to where he his!" he exclaimed to the medallion.

Jaune looked back and forth between Simon and the Medallion in confusion. "Huh? Where _who_ i- WHOA!"

Simon was then covered in a bright white aura as he tightened his grasp on the relic. As he did, Ruby shook him vigorously, hoping to snap him out of whatever this was.

"Simon! Simon, please tell us what's wrong. Please let us he-"

Ruby didn't get to finish what she was saying. She was interrupted when the relic created an explosion of white light, engulfing the entire hallway. It slowly faded, showing no sigh of damage to the hall.

And no presence of either Ruby, Jaune or Simon.

Stepping out from behind the shadow of another pillar, was a familiar elder in a black business suit. His black eyes with white irises stared art the spot where the teens were, smoking a cigarette with a look of amusement and curiosity on his face.

"Well… we shall see if they are up for the task." Zobek said, intrigued to learn how the teens would fair in the castle.

 **Alright, that's this chapter done.**

 **Incase anyone's wondering, I decided to switch up the fight with the Grimm with a fight between the two students because everyone of them know how to fight Grimm, but enemies that can think, like people in general, can be a lot harder to beat, so they would need to learn to up their game in that regard. Plus, I saw it used in so many RWBY stories that I thought it would be a nice change. If not, then I'm sorry, but I'm standing by it.**

 **Also, Leroy's semblance was based off of the Fairy Tail character Jackal, who could create explosions the same way, as well as 'Plastique' from The Flash TV series. It's a pretty good power, only hear Leroy has full control over it.**

 **And so, we will soon see the leaders of Teams RWBY and JNPR get a taste of what it's like to survive in a castle that's literally out to kill you. The only issue is… how will they manage without their weapons? Hm?**

 **Right, nothing more to say here. Thanks for reading, hope you have a nice day, and I'll see you later.**


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